Pilot Mental Fitness in the Wake of Germanwings

9525:
Are We Any Safer?

Scott Brooksby
Olson Brooksby, PC
Columbia Aviation
Association
September 1, 2016

But nobody ever thought about having to protect the

passengers from the pilots.
David Neeleman, founder and former CEO, Jet Blue
Dont lock those doors so that you cant get in from the
outside
if something happens.
John McGaw, 1st TSA Administrator.

Pilot Mental Fitness

Pilot Mental Fitness

Flying Public
Airlines
Regulators
Pilots and Crew

Pilot Mental Fitness

Pilot Mental Fitness

 March 24, 2015

A320 on scheduled passenger flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf
144 passengers and a crew of six
27 year-old co-pilot flying for Germanwings since June 2014
First Class Medical Certificate issued April 2008
Prior major depressive episode from August 2008 to July 2009
Waiver provided for revocation if there was a relapse into
depression

December 2014, symptoms consistent with the onset of a

psychotic depressive episode
February 2015, diagnosis of psychosomatic disorder and anxiety
disorder
March 10, 2015, diagnosis of psychosis and recommendation of
in-patient psychiatric care
Consulted with several doctors (but no AMEs), including
Pilot Mental Fitness
psychiatrists, who prescribed an anti-depressant

Pilot Mental Fitness

25% of the U. S. adult population has some form of mental

illness.
Depression level estimates range from 4.3% in North Dakota
to 13.7% in Mississippi. (CDC)

Pilot Mental Fitness

Leading Causes of Death in the

United States
(1) Heart disease: 614,348
(2)Cancer: 591,699
(9) Intentional self-harm (suicide): 42,773
(CDC)
Pilot Mental Fitness

Suicide is the second leading cause of

death for the age group, 25 to 34, and
the fourth leading cause of death for
those ages 35 to 54 . (CDC)

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9.3 million adults reported

having suicidal thoughts in 2013.
Males take their own lives at
nearly four times the rate of
females (77.9%). (CDC)
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 All cases involve male pilots.

Median age: 40 (15 to 67)
16 aircraft-assisted suicides in the
United States (all general aviation)
from 1993 to 2002 (3,648 fatal).
8 aircraft-assisted suicides in the
United States from 2002 to 2012
(2,758 fatal).
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In 2007, the Airline Pilots

Association (ALPA) reported that
25% of the ALPA Aeromedical
Office calls were mental healthrelated.
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GENERAL AVIATION
37 cases of commission or attempt, 1983
through 2012
38%-psychiatric problems
40%-legal problems
46%-domestic or social problems
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Medical Certificate Requirements

Medical examination with an FAA-approved Aviation
Medical Examiner (AME) every six to twelve months
depending on the pilots age, relative to 40 years. 14
C.F.R. Part 61.

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The FAA does not expect the Examiner to

perform a formal psychiatric examination.
However, the Examiner should form a
general impression of the emotional
stability and mental state of the
applicant.

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Mental standards for a first-class airman medical

certificate are:
(a) No established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any
of the following:

(1) A personality disorder

(2) A psychosis.
(3) A bipolar disorder.
(4) Substance dependence, except where there is established
clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of
recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the
substance(s) for not less than the preceding 2 years. 14 C.F.R.
67.107.
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Recent Regulatory Action

The FAA chartered the Pilot Fitness Aviation Rulemaking
Committee (ARC) on May 11, 2015. The ARC released
its report on November 18, 2015.
Enhance AME Training
Psychological Testing
Pilot Assistance Programs
Air Carrier Education
Informational Material on Pilot Support Programs
Medical Professional Reporting
Two Persons on Flightdeck
Flightdeck Access Aircraft Design Standards
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IATA and ICAO Favor Coordinated

Approaches
Excluding pilots with a history of mental
health issues from flying has a potentially
detrimental effect on overall safety, as there is
evidence this will further stigmatise mental
health and drive the issue underground with
pilots flying untreated or unmonitored. IATA,
June 3, 2015.
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 February 9, 1982. Japan Air Lines Flight

350
DC-8 from Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda
35 year-old captain had just returned
to work.
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 August 21, 1994. Royal Air Maroc Flight

630 (ATR-42)
Scheduled flight from Agadir, Morocco
to Casablanca
32 year-old pilot intentionally turned
off autopilot
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 December 19, 1997. SilkAir Flight 185

The captain (41) was flying a 10-monthold Boeing 737300 from Jakarta, Indonesia to
Singapore
Plane dove from 35,000 feet in one
minute, diving
almost vertically into the Musi River
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 October 11, 1999. Air Botswana.

Pilot commandeered ATR 42-320 and circled the
airport at Gaborone,
Botswana for two hours before crashing into the
tarmac
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 October 31, 1999. Egypt Air Flight 990.

Boeing 767-300 scheduled passenger flight from Los
Angeles to Cairo
Crashed 60 miles south of Nantucket killing all 203
passengers and 17
crew
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 November 29, 2013. LAM Mozambique Airlines

Flight 470.
Embraer 190, had just been delivered in November
2012
Scheduled passenger flight from Maputo,
Mozambique, to Luanda, Pilot Mental Fitness
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 September 26, 1976. Aeroflot,

Antonov 2
Novosibirsk, Western Siberia

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How to marshal an
F-15

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Notable Non-Crash Events

January 28, 2008
London-bound Air Canada Boeing 767
over the Atlantic

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March 27, 2012

Jet Blue Boeing 737 flying from New York (JFK)
to Las Vegas

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Airport workers with too much time on

their hands

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The FARS and federal preemption generally

provide the airlines with significant discretion
regarding operational safety programs,
including the mental fitness of flight crew
members.

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The airline industry must be

accorded great leeway and
discretion in determining the
manner in which it may be
operated most safely. Johnson v.
American Airlines, Inc., 745 F.2d
988 (5th Cir. 1984).
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Disclosure Inhibitors:
Lack of Recognition
Laws
Fear of Lawsuits

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