EU watchdog urges expanded pilot mental health checks

BRUSSELS, July 18 (AFP) - Europe's aviation watchdog on Friday recommended expanded mental health and medical checks of pilots after a rogue airman apparently deliberately crashed a Germanwings jet in March, killing all 150 people on board.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said pilots should “undergo psychological evaluation” during training or before entering service and face random drug and alcohol tests, although investigators have not cited those substances as factors in the Germanwings tragedy.

“This report is the result of a thorough analysis with practical recommendations so that such a tragic event does not happen again,” EASA executive director Patrick Ky said.

Some of the recommendations -- likerequirements for psychological, drug and alcohol tests -- would likely require new legislation to take effect, EU officials said.

Investigators say that 27- year- old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had a history of severe depression, intentionally slammed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps.

They say he locked the other pilot out of the cockpit during the March 24 flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, and then put the aircraft into a steep dive as his colleague tried desperately to break down the door.

French prosecutors said Lubitz, who suffered from psychosis, was terrified of losing his sight and consulted 41 different doctors in the previous five years, including psychiatrists as well as ear, throat and nose specialists.

Several of these doctors who were questioned by German investigators said Lubitz complained he had only 30 percent vision, saw flashes of light and suffered such crippling anxiety he could barely sleep. Lubitz reportedly said “life has no sense with this loss of vision.” However the doctors he consulted -- including one who booked him off work two days before the ill-fated flight -did not reveal his mental struggles due to doctor-patient confidentiality rules.