Pilot Mental Illness

The Germanwings Flight 4U9525’s accident marked the beginning of realizing that we needed to take a serious approach towards pilot’s mental health. Flight 4U9525 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Spain to Dusseldorf Airport in Germany. On 24 March 2015, the aircraft, an Airbus A320, crashed in the city of Nice, France. All 150-people died. After deep investigation, the crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz. The first officer locked the door, when the captain left the cockpit, and initiated a controlled descent until the A320 impacted a mountainside. According to Joshua Hammer (2016), The first officer, Lubitz, was diagnosed with suffering from “deep depressive episodes” with suicidal thoughts back in 2008 as he first began his flight training in the Lufthansa flight academy. In 2009, he “treated” and cleared to return to the academy after being put through intense psychotherapy. His medical, issued by German officials, was labeled “SIC” (Specific Regular Examination) meaning that the mentioned above would regular be tested for symptoms (Hammer, 2016). Lubitz had also lied on his FAA form by checking “No” when asked if he had been diagnosed with a mental disorder illness. Lubitz’s symptoms came back few months before he decided to commit suicide as he was regularly claiming to be seeing things and going blind. He was put back on heavy medications and failed to notify his employer so that he would continue to fly.

In the year of 1999, there was similar case of suicide by the co-pilot of Egypt Air flight 990. The relief first officer, Gamel Al-Batouti, locked his caption outside of the cockpit and initiated a steep descend. The Boeing 767 crashed, killing all people on board. Also, a Mozambican Airliner was deliberately brought down by the pilot after he locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit and executed a series of maneuvers, crashing the plane and killing all people one board. Based on web-survey taken by a vast number of airline pilots, research indicates that 233 (12.6%) pilots met the depression threshold and 75 (4.1%) pilots have suicidal thoughts (Wu et al., 2016). The topic of mental illness among airline pilots will present itself heavily in the next few years, I personally think.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now taking steps towards an advanced pilot mental Illness screening. But as of right now, Pilots are required to take a medical examination annually or every six months, depending on their age. An article posted on the CBS news’ website states that "Most of the exam is devoted to the pilot's physical condition. Examiners aren't required to ask specific mental-health questions. However, they evaluate a pilot's mental health based on their conversation with the pilot during the exam. Pilots are also required to fill out a health form in conjunction with their visits that asks wether they've ever been diagnosed with or are being treated or taking medications for a mental illness." (CBS News Website, 2016). Airlines (some may vary) on the other hand, require pilots to take a psychological test prior the hiring process, but they are primarily personally tests used to discover whether the pilot fit well with the company’s way of doing the job rather than it attempts to uncover any mental illness issues. So, how effective is the screening for mental illness for pilots? I think the question is better remained unanswered.

The pilot’s mental health screening is mostly “self-disclosed” In which pilot have the responsibility of reporting such factors to their employer and the FAA. In my personally opinion, the industry is doing its best in trying to come up with more efficient ways to screen for such illnesses. We are moving towards and proactive approach regarding the issue. The airlines are now developing an approach where if pilots report any issues, they will not lose their jobs immediately but instead allowing them to take a leave to be treated and return to work. The FAA is also educating its examiners on how to recognize any mental illness when performing a medical. Perhaps the FAA is developing an actual mental illness tests to be given to those seeking a medical certification. Also, in the airlines environment and with the reporting programs under the safety management systems (SMS), there is a big level of dependency on crews reporting on each other’s action during flights. I, once again, think that such approaches might be efficient since if the FAA tries to make screen more complex; it will interfere with the privacy of those pilots as well as makes processes a lot more complicated.

Citations

A. (2016, June 09). FAA rules out requiring psychological testing for airline pilots. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faa-rules-out-requiring-psychological-testing-for-airline-pilots/

Holpuch, A. (2015, March 26). Pilots' mental health screening under scrutiny after Germanwings crash. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/26/pilots-mental-screening-germanwings-deliberate-crash

Hammer, J. (2016 February 22). The Real Story of Germanwings Flight 9525. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.gq.com/story/germanwings-flight-9525-final-moments

Wu, A. C., Donnelly-Mclay, D., Weisskopf, M. G., McNeely, E., Betancourt, T. S., & Allen, J. G. (2016, December 15). Airplane pilot mental health and suicidal thoughts: a cross sectional descriptive study via anonymous web-based survey. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-016-0200-6

A Dive into the Regional Airline Industry

The Regional Airline Industry was created by the Major Airlines themselves as a way of reducing costs and providing cheaper tickets to customers. The role of the Regional companies is to shuttle passengers from smaller airports to bigger ones, where they board a bigger airplane operated by a major company and onto their next destinations. The Regional Airline industry is still in a blooming period in its operations as it stands today. The numbers of travelers increase every year as well as the air transportation business in general has been growing in the last few years. The industry is facing a real threat of pilot shortage. A threat that may take many companies out of business. The Regionals are the source that “supplies” pilots to the major carriers as needed. The crisis of the pilot shortage that the industry is facing now will affect the major airlines as well in the long run. What will happen with the Regional Airlines can no longer provide the number of pilots requested by the major companies to meet flight routes? Will the Regional Airline go out of business? If we see such change, the major airlines will take a huge loss as it will no longer be able to operate cheaply.

            I personally do believe that the pilot shortage is a huge threat to our aviation industry. There are multiple reasons to why we are witnessing such shortage. In his article, “Here’s the Major Crisis the Airlines Are Facing Now”, Alex Fitzpatrick states that the pilot shortage is due to fact that it has been made very expensive to become a pilot in terms of training and starting with an entry-level salary of around $27,000 at a Regional carrier (Fitzpatrick, 2016). This new 1500-hour requirement, and for the moment I will stay away from the argument of how it negatively impacted the industry, has certainly made the process of becoming a pilot more expensive. The financial calculus of the situation, I strongly believe, has increasingly been keeping want-to-be pilots out of the cockpit. According to Aaron Karp (2017), the retirement age of 65 of the airline pilots has also contributed to such crisis of shortage (Karp, 2017). The retirement age, in all honesty, is something we may not be able to change. Although, there is few things we can do to end the crisis of the pilot shortage; getting rid of the 1500-hour rule, increasing the yearly salaries to attract pilots, and provide better duty schedules for pilots (Karp, 2017).

            The argument of whether the 1500-hour rule was the correct action after the Colgan flight accident to make the industry safer or it was just something that needed to be done to silence the public remains in question today. I personally think that it is indeed the time for the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider the total hour requirements for pilots. How well does such number of hours represent the pilot’s skill? “Hours can reflect experience, but they’re not a good yardstick to measure pilots’ abilities. Somebody could go tow banners for 10,000 hours and be less prepared to be a first officer than a graduate that came out of a program like ours that perhaps had 500 or 750 hours.” Says Dr. Dan Macchiarella, dean of the College of Aviation Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fitzpatrick, 2016). The above statement is a well demonstration of the fact the 1500-hour rule does not make pilots more skilled when an incident in flight occur. It might allow them to have flight time experience but that’s about it. The best way to handle this situation is to take hourly rule out and implement a system that train pilots on real, in flight, scenarios so that when things go wrong, the two people in the cockpit are well prepared. 

            Professionalism, and in my own words, is maintaining and having all skills and manners needed to carry out a job. When we witness a lack of professionalism on the job, like the Colgan Air accident, the outcomes are catastrophic. In Colgan’s flight 3407 accident, and as researched in the flying cheap documentary, is a long chain of event and lack of professionalism that lead to such outcome. The initial re-action of the crew, pulling back on the yoke instead of pushing forward to break the stall, shows a huge lack of skill and professional by the crew. On the other side, the management of Colgan Air had failed to discover that captain Renslow failed 5 different check rides previously. The salary and work environment has a drastic impact on the level of professionalism pilots demonstrate while on duty. When and airline provides a culture of positivity and safety, pilots show skill and professionalism when they are required to do so on the job. You cannot operate in an environment where safety and professionalism does not exist in the management level expect to have well-trained and experienced pilots in the cockpit. Professionalism is what a company hires, trains, and presents to people. To maintain my professionalism once I am employed by the airlines, I will always strive to get the best possible training before transporting hundreds of people from one destination to another. Also, I will always promote safety. Being a pilot means you are responsible for the safety of operations as well as the safety of the passengers. Once you let anything get in the way of doing your job correctly, you are no longer a professional.

Citations

Fitzpatrick, A. (2016, March 23). Regional Airlines Hit by Pilot Shortage. Retrieved January 19,

2018, from http://time.com/4257940/pilot-shortage/

Karp, A. (2017, March 24). Analysis: Regional airline CEO says pilot shortage getting serious.

Retrieved January 19, 2018, from http://atwonline.com/opinions/analysis-regional-

airline-ceo-says-pilot-shortage-getting-serious

An Introduction to My Aviation Journey

Background 

My name is Ehab Gano and I have been attending Eastern Michigan University since the year of 2015. I was originally born in Baghdad, Iraq and lived there until I was about 12 years old. My parents decided to come to the United States after the war of 2003. It had become too dangerous to live in Baghdad, especially if you were Christian/Catholic. December of 2008 marked the time I had first stepped foot in the USA. For about half of my life, I grew up in the east side of Michigan. I'm 21 years old and very outgoing. My school and work schedule has been very busy in the last couple years, but I like to spend time with my family as much as possible. Getting an education is very important to me and I strongly believe it is the key to where I want to go in the future. 

Interests in Aviation 

I come from a family that has literally nothing to do with aviation or flying, although they are very supportive of my career decision. My passion towards airplane and wanting to be a professional Airline Pilot started when I was a kid. My father had always bought me airplane toys and introduced me to others as "my future captain". This started to grow when I first stepped on airplane from Baghdad to Jordan. I enjoyed being at the airport, watching flight crews walk around and witness the amount of respect the received, I enjoyed watching airplanes take-off and land, and when it got time to get on an airplane-- I did not want to leave. I'm the type of person that always volunteered to drop off and pick people up whenever the destination included an airport. I was asked to research a career to pursue in the future, an airline pilot was it. I meet with pilots, went on a discovery flight, I fell in love, and I finally knew what I want to do in the future. Become an Airline Pilot.

My Aviation Status 

I'm Attending Eastern Michigan University, currently as sophomore pursuing a degree in Aviation Flight Technology, with concentration in airline Dispatch. I am due to graduate summer of 2020, if there are no delays or troubles to be encountered. I am also working on getting my pilot certifications up to the Airline Transport Pilot Certification. Wit1h that being said, private pilot certification is currently in process and I have been flight training for the past two years. I will also continue to fly until unable to do so-- for whatever the reason might be (hopefully none). 

Future in Aviation 

I am currently flight training and working towards my private pilot certification, which should be all done by the end of winter 2018. I plan on finishing up my Aviation degree as well as all my ratings in the next two to three years. I will also flight instruct to log all the hours needed to reach the airlines. My final future goal is to be a professional Airline pilot for a middle eastern airline, such as fly emirates. Long way to go but with hard work and dedication, everything is possible 

Aviation Topics 

Some of the Aviation Topics that highly Interest me are as follows:

• International Employment
• International Policies 
• Accident Studies 
• Automation and How it Affects the Human-Machine Interaction 
• Future Technologies in relation to flying
• Public Perception of Safety 
• Single Pilot/ No pilot future commercial airline operations