Now this is not done in Europe. Similarly, BEA recommends mitigating the financial and loss-of-license risks to a pilot who self-declares a mental illness diagnosis.
Markus Wahl, a spokesman for the Cockpit union, said in a statement Sunday that French investigation agency BEA’s safety recommendations are “a balanced package of measures” and should be implemented in full.
However, the consulted doctors did not report authorities about Lubitz’s mental health, reports NBC News. That’s because of strict German medical privacy laws, meant to protect patients’ confidentiality. He said he believed that Germany needs to change its laws to make sure that doctors who treat pilots are required to talk to investigators in the future.
French air accident bureau BEA has now published its final report on the crash, urging new rules on medical reporting about pilots.
Investigators also revealed that Lubitz was using antidepressants at the time of the crash. The U.S. National Library of Medicine notes on its entry for Citalopram that children and young adults who take the drug can become suicidal.
On the black box voice recorder recovered at the crash scene in southeastern France, all that is heard from Lubitz is regular breathing.
“That’s why I think clearer rules are needed to preserve public security”, he told reporters at a press conference in the French city of Le Bourget. But the doctor reportedly didn’t alert authorities out of fear of breaching Germany’s medical privacy laws.
The BEAcited a “lack of clear guidelines in German regulations” on when a threat to public safety outweighs the requirements of medical confidentiality.
The BEA also recommended more frequent, deeper monitoring of pilots who had mental health issues in the past – for example every three months instead of every year.
The agency said airplane cockpit security rules shouldn’t be changed, saying hijacking remains a greater threat than pilot suicide. The German air accident agency said that means they were unable to determine with any certitude what exactly Lubitz was suffering from.
As a result of the Germanwings crash, European aviation authorities have already recommended making it compulsory to have two people in the cockpit at any time during flights. The investigation uncovered risks that Lubitz presented with that should have stopped him from being certified.
In fact, The Associated Press reports, Lubitz had consulted “dozens of doctors” in the weeks leading up to the crash – one of whom referred him to a psychiatric clinic.
BEA investigation head Arnaud Desjardin said Lubitz had in December 2014 started to show symptoms that “could be compatible with a psychotic episode” but this information was not passed on to Germanwings.
“People don’t seek out psychotherapy when they’re anxious that their employers might find out what’s going on”, Dr. Max said, later adding, “What does the employer do with that information?” In the months before the crash, Lubitz visited 41 doctors, and none warned his employer or authorities that Lubitz might be too ill to fly.
German airlines rely on pilots to self-report any medical conditions that would prevent them from flying.
Wreaths of flowers are seen near the stele after families gathered for a ceremony in memory of the victims of the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash in Le Vernet, France, July 24, 2015.
The resulting crash killed all 150 people on board.
(Culled from nanonews.org)
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