PROBE FOCUSES ON CO- PILOT
Searching for motive in suicidal act
The deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 has turned attention to the unsettling and rare phenomenon of “aircraft- assisted pilot suicide.”
Even though commercial airline pilots undergo psychological testing, aviation experts acknowledge those who are depressed or suicidal may be difficult to detect. Pilots who report symptoms run the risk of having their medical certificates suspended or revoked, so they stay quiet.
“Pilots grow up in a culture of machoism — ‘ Suck it up and do the job,’” said Suzanne Kearns, a pilot and professor of aviation safety at Western University in London, Ont.
“I think ( this incident) will lead regulators to question whether it’s possible to implement more oversight of their mental health.”
Andreas Lubitz, the 27- year- old co- pilot of Flight 9525, is believed to have locked himself in the cockpit before intentionally crashing the plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people.
French, German and U. S. officials said there was no indication of terrorism. Investigators are focusing on the co- pilot’s “personal, family and professional environment” to try to determine why he did it.
On Thursday, French prosecutor Brice Robin laid out in horrifying detail the final sounds heard in the cockpit which authorities extracted from the mangled voice recorder. Lubitz, courteous in the first part of the trip, became “curt” when the captain began the midflight briefing on the planned landing, Robin said. The pilot, who has not been identified, left the cockpit for an apparent bathroom break, and Lubitz took control of the jet.
He suddenly started a manual descent, and the pilot started knocking on the door.
There was no response. “It was absolute silence in the cockpit,” the prosecutor said — except for the steady breathing he said indicated Lubitz was not panicked, and acted in a calm, deliberate manner.
Lubitz passed all psychological screenings, authorities said Thursday. There was no indication he had any links to terrorism.
Brian Mishara, a psychology professor the University of Quebec in Montreal, said it was tough even to speculate what Lubitz’s mindset might have been because so little has been written on people who commit suicide and take others with them.
There are suicide bombers, of course, but their main objective is political. In Lubitz’s case, Mishara suggested there may have been a confluence of severe mental illness and a tremendous amount of anger at the world.
“This is an extremely rare event — so rare we don’t have a lot of information about it,” he said.
A report last year by the U. S. Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) found 24 pilot suicides from 19932012, all involving small planes.
“Factors involved in aircraft- assisted suicides may be depression, social relationships, and financial difficulties,” it said.
Kearns said pilots are exposed to constant stress when flying, including adapting to changing altitudes and time zones. When you couple that with always being away from home and increasing volatility in the airline industry, “you’d expect to have a lot of anxiety and emotional issues.”
Yet, “people don’t talk a lot about mental health,” she said.
Transport Canada’s website says the rates of depression or anxiety disorder reported among pilots fall well below those experienced by Canadians in general, meaning many will “suffer in silence.”
Even if the industry improves vigilance for mental health problems, other issues arise, Kearns said. If pilots disclose they are suffering from anxiety, at what point should they be deemed unfit to fly? It is very subjective.
“It’s easy to say, ‘ Add a psych evaluation,’ but the broader implications are tricky,” she said.
In 2010, the FAA lifted a restriction on airline pilots taking antidepressants, in part to remove the stigma of mental illness. Under the new policy, they can get a special certificate to fly, but must undergo regular examinations.
“It is important to know who is being treated for depression so they can be properly monitored,” Randy Babbitt, then- FAA administrator, said at the time of the change.
Similarly, Transport Canada has adopted a “carefully controlled approach to allowing the use of medications for certain medical conditions in carefully selected circumstances,” according to its website.
Air Canada said Thursday it was monitoring developments in the Germanwings case. Under current policy, pilots undergo a behavioural assessment when they are hired and receive medical exams every year, twice a year after the age of 60.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International, the union that represents 50,000 pilots in the U. S. and Canada, said pilots’ behaviour and psychological well- being are evaluated by trained professionals during initial employment interviews and periodic medical examinations, as frequently as every six months.
I think ( this incident) will lead regulators to question whether it’s possible to implement more oversight of their mental health.