On March 24th, 2015 I remember walking into the library and seeing all three televisions on the wall tuned to CNN. The title across the screen read something along the lines of plane crashes in alps. That managed to get me more interested so I looked into it a bit further and found out a Germanwings aircraft flew into a mountain, killing all people on board. Later on it became known that the captain had been locked out of the cockpit and the first officer had flown flight 9525 into the ground by his own will.
The captain left the cabin during cruise at 38,000ft (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015, pg. 7). Afterwards the first officer had a series of selecting different altitudes from 100 ft to 49,000ft. Not long afterwards the aircraft began leaving the cleared altitude and descending. ATC attempted to make contact multiple times with no response. Flight 9525 increased speed and held around 325 knots. Nearing the selected 100 ft altitude the GPWS engaged and remained engaged until impact with ground soon after (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015).
The first officer was known to have a history of depression or mental illness in 2009 for which his 1st class medical was denied while taking medication, but then soon approved with a limitation for regular medical exams (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015). He passed all 1st class medicals after 2009. 5 years took place from that point up until the accident which is a significant amount of time to have depression if the illness remained with him up until March 24th, 2015. It is hard to determine if he was still suffering from depression since 2009, but it was said by people close to him that he was stressed out with work.
SilkAir Flight 185 crashed killing all 104 people on board after what was determined by the NTSB as pilot suicide. The investigation did have a lot of conflicts between investigation parties. The NTSC decided that the cause of the accident could not be concluded (National Transportation Safety Committee, 2000). The aircraft entered in a high speed dive soon impacting the ground, but before the non-normal flight characteristics began the CRV and FDR stopped recording.
I do believe that depression is something that most people would not quickly admit to. It is a seriously scary illness for the fact that it causes people to not feel like they are needed. It can cause suicidal thoughts and possibly lead to actions with those thoughts. Although suicidal thoughts are possible with depression it is the suicidal/homicidal thoughts and actions that are bizarre to me. Like Collin Hughes states in his blog, "Lubitz, Pure Evil", people who not only remove themselves, but take other people away from their own lives are the most selfish thing in the world (Hughes, 2015). A cure or treatment for that kind of evil may never be discovered, but depression is treatable. Depression should be something that people should not be scared to admit to and receive aid for. Recently the FAA has allowed the use of 4 different depression medications while flying which is great. It shows that people are seeing that pilots with depression are really just people like everyone else going through tough times.
It seems like the airlines and FAA may be straying from adding pilots with depression to the grounding list and moving towards treating those pilots for their illness. Depression is a treatable disease as long as people know about it. When somebody hides it from others out of fear of losing a job or being scrutinized is when the sickness will grow and become much worse. With more people reaching out and showing empathy for pilots suffering from depression comes the possibility of more of those pilots getting treatment to recover and continue flying just as they would hope.
References
Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile. (2015, March 24). Preliminary Report. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2015/dpx150324.en/pdf/d-px150324.en.pd
Hughes, C. W. (2015, March 27). Lubitz, Pure Evil. In Prozac Pilot - Pilots With Depression - Pilots on Antidepressants. Retrieved from http://www.prozacpilot.com/2015/03/lubitz-pure-evil.html
National Transportation Safety Committee. (2000, December 14). Aircraft Accident Report SILKAIRFLIGHT MI 185. Retrieved from http://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/dvdfiles/ID/1997-12-19-ID.pdf
Nicholas, I agree with you when you state that pilots need the empathy of others if they suffer from depression. I also agree with the link you cited on the whole suicide/homicide take on how it is the most selfish act out there. I always struggled with grasping the desire to commit the act of suicide, it hurts those who cared about the person far more than anyone else which why it is such a selfish act. Open and healthy communication seem to be good ways of combating depression, we just need to get over the stigma and pride in ourselves to "suck it up" and admit when there's a problem if there is one.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading information about this accident, I came across an article that said that Lubitz had a note in his apartment from his doctor that said that he was unfit to fly. “Prosecutors said a doctor's note stating that Lubitz was unfit to fly on the day of the crash was found at the co-pilot's residence in Düsseldorf, Germany” (Engel & Zhang, 2015). Lubitz never gave his employers this note that was supposedly from his psychiatrist. Although it doesn’t say that he was still suffering from depression, the note could suggest that something was going on that made him unfit to fly. I think that if there could have been some kind of communication between his psychiatrist and his employers to make sure that everyone knows that he is unfit to fly, then maybe the company could have taken action and not let him fly. I think that it is important for pilots to be able to feel comfortable with telling their employers if they have depression. If the airlines or FAA try to help them while working out a way to allow them to keep flying, pilots may be more willing to be honest and open about it. If they can talk to their employers about it, this can hopefully help them to seek the medical attention they made need.
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Engel, P., & Zhang, B. (2015, March 30). Here's Everything We Know About the Crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-we-know-about-germanwings-flight-9525-2015-3
I agree that there is no incentive for pilots to admit they have depression. They know it will disqualify them from flying, and are afraid of losing their livelihood if they seek treatment.If the FAA adopted a more rehabilitative approach to pilot depression, admitting that pilots are human beings that can be depressed, the problem would certainly be mitigated. I also agree with you that this is an insidious topic, as detecting depression in a person who actively denies it to escape losing a medical is nearly impossible. I would like to see healthcare professionals communicating with the FAA and employers regarding serious matters that impact airmen fitness for flight.
ReplyDeleteMy question is this, When is depression bad enough to stop someone from flying? It is such a subjective measurement that it would be all over the map, with some people with severe depression still flying and people with a milder case being grounded. Plus when you are dealing with pilots who have spent tens of thousands of dollars and many years getting to where they are professionally, most of them will error on the side of not seeking help just because of the chance they could lose their medical.
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