Pilot Mental State

Some of the worst disasters in aviation and common history have come from persons with a mental illness. Mental illness has been studied constantly and now the modern psychological field has a wider and much deeper understanding of what these illnesses are, what the signs and symptoms are, and how to possibly treat them. This is not to say, however, that these discoveries are founded without cost. Some of the greatest moments of change have come from the most devastating costs. One of those was the Germanwings accident in 2015.

Germanwings is a German origin commercial air transport carrier that specializes on low cost air fare. On March 24, 2015, an airbus A320-211 model descended from 38,000 to a CFIT into the French Alps by the co pilot in a mass suicide-homicide. The co pilot had been dealing with depression since 2008 and had a special waiver on his medical certificate requiring scheduled visits with a psychiatrist to retain this medical. 150 people, including the FO, Capt., 4 flight crew, and 144 passengers were killed in this horrific disaster. The co-pilot waited until he was alone in the cockpit, then pushed the airbus into an open decent averaging at 3,500 feet per minute. There were several calls and requests to access the cockpit by the rest of the fight crew that was denied by the co-pilot. There was also sounds of “violent blows” recorded that have been determined to have been strikes to the door to attempt to open the cockpit, but due to the design of the door itself, the cockpit was unreachable before the suicidal and homicidal CFIT occurred. As stated before, the co-pilot has been having problematic mental complications since 2008 where he voluntarily suspended his training due to medical reasons but couldn’t return until July of 2009 after being refused by the Lufthansa aeromedical center for renewal of his medical certificate twice until he had a special waiver to be added to the medical specifying the need for “specific regular medical examinations” and a need to contact the issuing authority before beginning the procedure. After reacquiring his medical, the co-pilot did not have any major successive issues shown between 2009 and the disaster in 2015 (B.E.A., 2016).

Pilot illness can happen to anyone, even someone flying a general aviation aircraft. An example of this comes in the form of a deranged pilot who stole a Piper PA-18, informally known as the super cub which is a single engine reciprocating tailwheel aircraft. He was reported to have flown low over houses due to low visibility and a snow blizzard, for several hours until, after fuel exhaustion, he made a forced off field landing. This destroyed the aircraft and seriously hurt the pilot. The pilot was a 39-year-old male with a commercial certificate and an instrument rating. He had a past history of mental illness and had even falsified medical certification application data in order to retain and obtain his 2^nd class medical (NTSB, 2009). The date of this accident was November 17, 1988, which shows that pilot mental illness started long before the Germanwings accident. So, lets talk a little about how mental illness in pilots is tested today.

Mental health is currently tested when the pilot goes to obtain or fulfill his/her medical certificate. There are multiple questions that the AME can ask of the pilot and there is a mandatory disclosure that must be made about all pre-existing medical conditions and procedures (FAA, 2016). This method is far from complete. As I have cited in the above example, pilots are obviously willing to falsely claim their own sense of fitness in order to continue flight. It is very easy to lie in a system that does not allow for cross checking between the AME and other medical professionals. I would allow, if allowed, the ability for the AME to ask specific broad questions to the existing pilots pediatrician and, if applicable, psychiatrist. I would also allow for voluntary, non-punitive, disclosure forums and encourage, if not mandate, commercial carriers and other such businesses to have support groups and a list of professionals that could help the individuals who need it. Now that we know more about the testing, we can look at some of the problems that could be incurred along the way to combat new recommendations that are needed to change the way we treat and talk about pilot mental illness.

In order to see what challenges may occur to the FAA and airliners, it is imperative to look at the aftermath of these massive breakdowns in mental health of pilots and see what has come out of those ashes. An aviation rulemaking committee made some suggestions as to what could possibly be done to further raise awareness and push for enhanced procedures to catch signs of mental illness earlier so that tragedies like Germanwings don’t happen again. There were 4 broad suggestions made in the report. One of the first things that was suggested was enhancing training for AMEs in the mental health subject so that they are more aware and prepared to look for these signs and symptoms. The second suggestion was to develop assistance programs that allow for a safe environment to talk about mental health issues. This will help defer issues to professional help and offer a calming peace of mind for the piloting community. Third, on a much larger scale and perhaps most helpful to the masses, they are advocating for a national, uniform policy for mandatory reporting of medical issues that can affect the public safety. This transcends aviation issues, and goes towards clearing up a nationwide issue of making every industry and state safer. The fourth and final recommendation is to have the FAA find and share information on support programs for pilots so that airlines can use it as a resource to improve and create programs (Fraser, 2016).

So, can pilot mental illness be treated? There may be some who believe the answer is no, however, I am not one of them. All around the world, the aviation and medical community are striving for better and faster methods of detection and treatment, as well as advanced training and other recommendations to change the way the industry sees and feels about pilot mental health. We are certainly on our way to clearer skies and a brighter tomorrow.

B. (2016, March). Final Report Accident on 24 March 2015 at Prads-Haute-Bléone (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France) to the Airbus A320-211 registered D-AIPX operated by Germanwings. Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://www.bea.aero/uploads/tx_elydbrapports/BEA2015-0125.en-LR.pdf

F. (2014, September 19). Fact Sheet – Pilot Mental Fitness. Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20455

F. (2018, January 25). PART 67—MEDICAL STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION . Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=04982e58ee3a3b97f1094f7183cd2ea1&mc=true&node=pt14.2.67&rgn=div5#se14.2.67_1107

Fraser, J. R. (2016, January). From the Federal Air Surgeon’s perspective... Pilot Fitness Aviation Rulemaking Committee Recommendations . Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://www.nbaa.org/admin/personnel/medical/201601_editorial.pdf

N. (2009, June 1). National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report. Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20001213X27356&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=LA