Airline Pilots and Mental Illness

Germanwings flight 4U 9525 was an Airbus 320 carrying 150 people from Barcelona, Spain to Duesseldorf, Germany. After the flight was established in cruise, the captain stepped out of the cockpit for a brief break, and the first officer locked him out. Once alone in the cockpit, co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, sent the plane’s autopilot from an altitude of 38,000 ft. to 100 ft. The aircraft ended up descending into a mountain and killing everyone on board. The co-pilot had a history of mental illness, which draws into question why he was allowed to be flying in the first place. It appears that in his initial training, he withdrew to seek treatment for mental illness. A New York Times article says,

In the days after the crash, Lufthansa acknowledged that Mr. Lubitz had informed them of his depression in a 2009 email seeking reinstatement to its flight-training program after he withdrew from it for nine months to seek treatment. Lufthansa subsequently put him back through its standard applicant-screening process and medical tests and allowed him to re-enter the program, which normally lasts about two years (2016).

Before coming to the United States for his flight training, his application for a student pilot certificate was initially declined. The New York Times article also mentioned,

There is evidence suggesting that Mr. Lubitz may have tried to conceal the severity of his illness from the Federal Aviation Administration in the weeks before he arrived in Arizona — actions that led the American authorities to initially reject his application for a student pilot’s license. Mr. Lubitz ultimately provided the F.A.A. with letters from a psychologist detailing his treatment, which included the prescription of powerful antidepressants (2016).

Another incident involving medical health occurred on a JetBlue flight, when the captain went “berserk” and the first officer locked him out of the cabin while passengers subdued him. The captain left the cabin to go to the bathroom and he came out yelling concerning things about the flight. An off-duty pilot that was travelling on the flight came up to the cabin to assist in the flying duties in the absence of the captain. They diverted with a medical emergency and landed in Amarillo, Texas. Medical examiners found that the episode was brought about by sleep deprivation (2012).

Currently, pilot mental health is screened in the medical certification that pilots undergo. An FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) meets with an applicant seeking certification and reviews their apparent fitness along with a medical questionnaire. The questionnaire solicits previous medical history and has questions pertaining to mental health. In analyzing the frequency of incidents/accidents with mental illness as a contributing factor, I find that the current system is acceptable. If any change were to be made, I think leniency should be reduced for people who have reported previous mental illness.

Challenges that would be faced by the FAA and airlines if a more liberal approach to mental illness were taken would be determining what instances of mental illness were riskier than others. With a zero-tolerance policy, that same challenge is not faced. Excluding any people with mental illness prevents the challenge of trying to distinguish innocent mental illness from risky mental illness. In aviation, with how costly a mistake in judgment could be, it is not worth taking the chance.

Clark, N. (2016, April 13). Families of Germanwings crash victims file suit in U.S. New York

Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/europe/families-of-germa nwings-crash-victimsfile-suit-in-us.html?rref=collection%2Fnewseventcollect ion%2Fgermanwin gs-flight-9525-crash&action=click&contentCollection=world&region =stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

Newcomb, A. (2012, August 9). JetBlue pilot who “went berserk” has suffered psychotic episode

in hospital. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/jetblue-pilot-berserk-suffered-psychotic-episode-hospital/story?id=16967151

Regional Airlines, Professionalism, and “Flying Cheap”

The state of the regional airline:

The regional airlines for many pilots today are a stepping stone towards the major airlines. Regional airlines hire pilots at the minimum Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) hour requirements of 1500 hours, or 1000 hours for graduates of university flight schools. Regional pilot pay has increased as the pressure of the pilot shortage has grown. Many regionals offer large bonuses for completion of a full year of employment to compensate for the lesser pay that regional pilots receive in comparison to the major airlines. Regionals also offer pilots relatively quick upgrades to captain, because the turnover of more senior pilots to the majors is so frequent.

In referencing the pilot shortage, industry trends show that a shortage exists. Mandatory retirements at age 65 are increasing, and the number of commercial pilot certificates issued by the FAA annually is very low in comparison. Ostrower in his article for CNN said,

“In the next 20 years, airlines in North America are going to need 117,000 new pilots, Boeing estimates. And the farm team for training and recruitment in the U.S. -- the military and regional carriers -- are already struggling to find and keep aviators.”

Pay increases can very likely help to alleviate the pilot shortage. Historically, the pilot career has been very difficult to enter because of the high costs of training, the low pay at entry-level positions (such as regionals), and the slow rate of progression. Jeff Freidrich in his article “How We Ruined Airline Jobs” says, “We made the pilot occupation so unattractive, so tenuous and poorly paid, that people stopped wanting to do it”. The more highly paid pilots are, the more prospective pilot will want to fly. Ostrower made note in his article for CNN,

“Rather than change any standards to bolster recruitment, pilot’s unions have pushed for higher wages for existing pilots to increase the economic attractiveness of the profession.”

The more highly paid that pilots are, the more likely prospective pilots are to be willing to invest all of the money needed for training. A comparison to another industry would be if a medical student got through medical school, but then was stuck as a low salary resident for ten years, and they couldn’t work at a hospital near their home, they had to relocate to a hospital in another state that wasn’t as desirable. In this scenario, being a doctor would be much less viable.

The 1500-hour rule’s effects on regional airline hiring:

The 1500-hour rule severely limits the depth of the hiring pool for regional airlines. When commercial pilot training can be completed at 250 hours, there is a 1250 hour gap that aspiring regional airline pilots have to bridge in order to be eligible. This gap leads to shortages of qualified candidates for the regional airlines. Many pilots go on to earn their flight instructor certificate(s), at cost, to work as a flight instructor while they build time towards the 1500. Alternatives are to fly cargo or charter and work towards the 1500. A possible solution for the regionals could be to partner with cargo and charter companies and enact a flow-through program into the region once pilots get to the 1500.

My very best definition of professionalism:

Professionalism is a combination of appearance, attitude, and manner of conduct that acts, positively or negatively, to externally convey the impression of qualification and competency in regard to a position.

Lack of professionalism in “Flying Cheap”:

In “Flying Cheap”, two examples of a lack of professionalism would be the airline captain’s falsification of a weight manifest to make the flight appear to be within the weight and balance envelope, and the conversation the young Colgan pilot had with management when they tried persuading him to take a flight when fatigued and offered to falsify his duty records.  

Pay as a factor in the lack of professionalism in “Flying Cheap”:

Regional pilot pay being based solely on when the pilot is actively flying seemed like a contributing factor, but the examples of unprofessionalism that I previously mentioned were examples from management and a captain, so pay does not seem like the biggest contributing factor. The company culture at Colgan and greed appeared to be the biggest contributing factors in the documentary.

Two ways in which I plan to expand my professionalism throughout my aviation career:

-I plan to pursue my flight instructor certificates after I’m actively flying professionally as a way to pursue continuing education and better myself as a pilot.

-I also plan to join and participate actively in as many pilot organizations as I can to further my exposure in aviation. I’ve looked at NAFI, I definitely want an AOPA lifetime membership, and I plan to join ALPA as well.

Friedrich, J. (7 September 2017). How we ruined airline jobs. Slate. Retrieved from

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/09/how_we_ruined_airline_jobs.html

Ostrower, J. (31 July 2017). The U.S. will face a staggering shortage of pilots. CNN

Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/27/news/companies/pilot-shortage-figures/index.html

A Personal Introduction

Hi all,

This may be a long introduction, but I didn't want to leave much more out of it!

1) Background

      Aviation has always played a significant part in my life. I’ve spent my entire life, thus far, living on a private airport. My family home connects to a hangar that has always housed airplanes in various states of airworthiness. My family’s history in aviation began with my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather owned his own business as an electrician and was a pilot in the mid-1900s. Pop, as we called him, purchased a Cessna 195B from a corporation that has remained in my family to this day. My grandfather followed in his father’s footsteps and fell in love with aviation. From a young age, he was passionate about aviation. He spent time working line crew, went to Western Michigan University for Aviation Maintenance, and has spent his life flying, acquiring, and maintaining aircraft for the family and for Northwest and Delta Airlines. To this day, my grandfather remains a private pilot, an aviation mechanic with inspection authorization, and an FAA-designated mechanic examiner. Many who will see this post know my grandfather as a teacher of Aircraft Systems at Eastern Michigan University. Many other family relatives have ties to aviation, but I am only going to include my direct family line.

      My father grew up with the same passion as his father and his father’s father. My father took his first solo flight at sixteen years old and became a private pilot in high school. Flying as a profession was always my father’s dream, unfortunately, his poor uncorrected eyesight prevented him from pursuing aviation professionally.  Through twenty years as an automotive engineer and the recipient of two Master’s degrees from the Universities of Michigan and Syracuse, my father’s circumstances do not discourage him from staying current and pursuing advanced flight training to work as a contract pilot and eventually fly professionally once he is eligible for retirement with a pension. With three generations of pilots in the family before me, I don’t have to look far for a role model. I am the second oldest of my siblings, and my older brother also pursued aviation. He is a commercial pilot for a jet management company and flies King Airs, Hawkers, Leers, and Challengers while he works towards Delta Airlines. With a history such as this, I could not think of anything I am better suited to do for a living than fly.

2) Current status

       I am currently a graduating junior at Eastern Michigan University. I am finishing my third year and graduating in April 2018. My major is Aviation Management with a business concentration and a minor in General Business. I am progressing in flight training outside of the University’s aviation program. Currently, I have my private pilot certificate and more than 245 hours of logged flight time. I have just over one hour logged in a Piper Arrow, just over 50 hours in a Mooney M20C, and nearly 200 hours logged in my family’s award-winning Cessna 150. I anticipate completing my instrument rating and earning my single-engine commercial pilot certificate and multi-engine add-on very near to graduating from Eastern. 

3) Future plans

To preface my plans, I have no intention of flight instructing as a job, but every intention of earning my flight instructor certificates at a later time in my life.

      

      Once I graduate and complete the necessary flight training, I will be faced with a lot of options. I am keeping an open mind to the many possibilities expected in the near future; however, it is my intention to fly the Leer 35 for Royal Air out of Pontiac International Airport. Royal Air also operates a King Air, a Leer 55, and two Falcons, and I would be happy to fly these aircraft as well, but my intent is the Leer. I have a connection at Royal that logged 900 hours in his first year as a Leer S-I-C. Once at Royal, I hope to fly with the same level of activity and eventually upgrade to captain either there or at another Part 135 operator. Once I have over 1000 hours turbine PIC, I intend to go to Delta Airlines, from which I will retire at 65 and continue flying for as long as I am physically able.
      I have many ambitions for my future in aviation. I plan to pursue seaplane ratings, a tailwheel endorsement, flight and ground instructor certificates, earn Gold Seal for student success, and become a certificated A&P, along with the coveted Airline Transport Pilot certificate.

4) Interests

      I am interested in hearing about flight and duty restrictions and the exemption of cargo carriers, because I have a potential interest in flying cargo in the future. The application, interview, and hiring practices of airlines is a subject that I find very interesting, and would greatly like to know more about. I also find the Restricted-ATP topic particularly interesting because it is relevant to Eastern Michigan’s flight program, although I will not be eligible as a student of Part 61 training. As a future beneficiary, the pilot shortage is another current aviation topic that I would find interesting to discuss.