Pilots and Mental Health

Pilot Mental Health

Germanwings flight 9525 crashed into the side of a mountain on March 24, 2015. The crash left the world in awe that a perfectly good plane fell out of the sky. The world wanted answers but the answers we all received were shocking at best. The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety(BEA), was the lead investigator with help from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. A week after the crash they found the black box. What was heard on the voice data recorder was shocking. The Captain Patrick Sondenheimer and F/O Andreas Lubitz talked “normally,” for the first part of the trip. Then as the Captain began the mid-flight brief Lubitz became short with his answers. The Captain then decides to leave the cockpit to presumably use the lavatory. This gave Lubitz time to close and lock the door, then time to disable the unlock code outside the cockpit. This now meat Lubitz was alone in the cockpit with no way for anyone to gain entry. As Lubitz set the vertical speed to descend at 100 feet per minute, you can hear the captain banging and screaming through the door. Lubitz said nothing during this time, as only steady breathing was captured by his microphone.

Lubitz mental illness was documented. According to the website cbc.ca, the airline Lufthansa (where Lubitz did his flight training and owner of Germanwings) found emails saying he took a several months break due to a “serious depressive episode.” (Associated Press, 2015). The airline then goes on to say Lubitz passed all his medical checks. Lubitz also struggled to get his ratings while at the Airline Training Center in Arizona. One instructor said Lubitz failed one of his flight tests because of a lack in situational awareness (a key in being a pilot). Another instructor; Scott Nickell that Lubitz struggled with procedural knowledge.

An example of another flight caused by mental health of a pilot is Fedex Flight 705. The main reason for the near crash was due to a disgruntled flight engineer Auburn Calloway. He was facing a possible dismissal due to falsifying flight hours. His family would benefit from his $2.5 million life insurance policy. He planned to murder the flight crew with claw hammers, club hammers, a spear gun and a knife (Kovalchik, 2008). Luckily the crew of three were able to restrain him while being on the brink of death. Upon landing a written note was found written by Calloway about his despair. Any person that wants to kill others and him/herself has apparent mental health problems.

Mental health in Aviation is highly misunderstood. There is no way to diagnose a pilot without having them tell an aviation medical examiner (AME). This is by far the easiest way to lie about any illness somebody has. For example, anything that’s wrong with somebody is extra paperwork, more time not having a medical and less time flying due to how long it takes for paperwork to go through the system. There needs to be reform around the whole industry. Mental illness is no joke as we can see it took the life of 150 people in flight 9525 and countless others in this industry. I believe the FAA and other Aviation bureaus need to hire a trained psychologist and use them with the AME. This could be used as the last line of defense. Also, I believe there should be some sort of mental illness database that examiners can look at to see if a patient has been treated for a mental health issue before. Last thing I would add is a check up every six months with a psychiatrist employed at the airline. I choose six months because flying is very stressful and to fly for the part 121 companies you need a first class medical. This means that if someone is under the age of 40 they will be looked at once for their medical renewal every year and at the halfway point. If someone is over 40 then they will be looked at every time they renew their medical.

From the FAA and airline perspective, the issue would rise up of falsifying his/her medical. No mater what the process is on determining if a pilot has great mental health there will always be a way around telling the truth. As I stated earlier the AME can ask questions about a patient’s mental health, but they are just questions, they aren’t looking in-depth into the patients past. The practice now is broken and needs a fix and just idling by will only make matters worse.

References

Press, T. A. (2015, March 31). Lufthansa knew of Germanwings co-pilot's 'depressive episode' years ago. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/germanwings-flight-4u9525-flight-school-knew-of-depressive-episode-1.3015984

Kovalchik, K. (2008, July 24). True Crimes: The Man Who Hijacked a Cargo Jet. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/19159/true-crimes-man-who-hijacked-cargo-jet

Flying Cheap

Flying Cheap and Professionalism

Two words, “Pilot Shortage.” Now don’t freak out, pilots aren’t getting shorter. What this means is there are more jobs then pilots available. Again, calm down this doesn’t mean a recent college graduate with very little time in a plane is going to be flying you to your destination. Each pilot still must get a minimum number of hours to be able to fly for the airlines. The shortage is brought on by too many retiring pilots and not many new pilots entering the industry. This topic is mainly looked at towards the regional airlines. I believe the shortage of pilots is industry wide and worldwide.

I believe that low pay for low time pilots and the number of retiring pilots are both contributing factors as to why there is a pilot shortage. I also believe there are other factors as to why there is a pilot shortage. Now this one is just speculation (and my own view) but kids only fly maybe two or three times while growing up. Therefore, it’s not a part of their everyday life as a fireman or police officer are. In class when I was a child I always put down, “when I grow up I want to be a fireman.” My grandfather was a fire Chief for Engine in Detroit. Fireman and police are a part of a child’s upbringing. Firemen and police come in to schools to talk about fire safety and stranger danger all the time. Not once do I remember a pilot coming in to talk about plane safety. The people that are retiring now were alive in the golden age of flying. Back when flying was a huge privilege. Everyone wanted to be a pilot and to travel the world. This was high class. Now flying is seen as a tuna in a tuna fish can; jam packed with people, paying for every accessory to the flight. Also, every news story about aviation is a crash or a negative story about the industry. Not a very an enlightening story line to a career.

The FAA raised the minimum retirement age for part 121 pilots from 60 to 65 in 2009, to avoid this big of a pilot shortage. Then in late 2009 Colgan Air flight 3407 crashed in Buffalo. Following this accident, the FAA raised the minimum Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) requirements from 250 hours to 1,500 hours. (Reynolds, 2107) For students learning to fly this meant finding a job outside of the regional airlines to build their hours. This in turn lead to a decrease in the number of pilots the regionals could choose from. Now pilots had to wait a year or two to build up 1,500 hours. This lead to many pilots giving up on the regionals and choosing part 91 and part 135 companies to work for due to a lower hour requirement. Many would stay in the “corporate” sector also due to money. The average salary for a first officer at the regional airlines was $18,000-$20,000. (O’Brian, 2010) That pay makes it hard for living because many students took out loans for flying and college. Then after college they must start repaying those loans back, which can be upwards of $800 a month. Take that and living expenses into account that doesn’t leave much if any money left over for food and everyday activities.

I believe the “pay increases,” will help with some of the pain with the shortage but won’t necessarily solve it. The pay increase I am talking about is located at the regional airlines. Now these are increased pay, but they are a gimmick. Let’s look at Envoy Airlines. They advertise that their starting pay is $60,000. For a student that is only making $20,000 a year that seems like a great deal. BUT, the catch is their starting pay is not $60,000. Looking through their website I found that you can receive up to $22,100 in as a sign-up bonus. Again, looks like a great deal, BUT money that is given as a bonus is taxed at a higher rate than earned income. So, you won’t even see all $22,100, and that’s even if they give you all of it. Digging deeper into their website, I stumbled across their cadet program. This program allows private, commercial, and instructors a way to get an interview with the Human Resources department at Envoy. This program also offers $5,000 total in tuition help for every 100 hours logged from 500 hours to ATP minimums. So, say I am a part 141 graduate and can earn my ATP at 1,000 hours, after 500 hours I would receive $1,000 every 100 hours. Reading further into the cadet program it states I could receive up to $17,100 in a sign on bonus. Now I am no expert at math but 17,100 plus 5,000 equals 22,100, the same amount as the bonus stated on the first page. This means that any one not apart of the cadet program is only eligible up to $17,100. All this is just for signing up, after your first year there are no bonuses for signing up. If we take the $60,000 they advertise as starting pay and subtract the bonus, that’s only $37,900. That’s not very good. I believe that the pay increase needs to be an actual increase and not a bonus gimmick to make a difference. As for me, I am buying into this gimmick because my end goal is to work for American and Envoy offers a flow through program. If the gimmick works on me it will work on others.

The 1,500-hour rule has shrunk the hiring pool for the regionals. A pilot is eligible for his commercial rating at 250 hours. That is a 1,250-hour gap needed to be made up somewhere. Many go on to be flight instructors, survey, aerial photography. But some go to cargo companies or charter service companies because their hour requirement is 1,200 hours for Pilot in Command duties, which every pilot wants. These pilots begin working at a cargo company at 600 hours as a Second in Command to build hours to the 1,200. By the time they reach 1,200, they have probably been working at the company for a year and can upgrade to the Captain spot (MORE PAY). By the time they reach 1,500 they pass on the opportunity to go to the regionals because they can’t afford to take the pay cut.

Regional airlines have cadet programs which allow a sort of mentorship for beginning pilots. I believe this is a great idea, but I believe they need to broaden their horizon. These cadet programs are for sponsored schools and there aren’t many. I believe they need to open the cadet programs to all aviation students to give them a goal to work towards. They also need to increase their pay because no one wants to pay back loans while making $40,000 a year before taxes.

Professionalism to me is holding oneself to a higher standard.

Professionalism lacked in the documentary when the director of aviation safety stood at the footprint of a crashed plane that killed all on board stating the regional airlines are safe. This was very disrespectful to the families that lost loved ones on that flight and showed a lack in professionalism in his work. Another lack in professionalism was the pilots of Colgan Air. The pilots were in no way able to fly that plane. Money is not more important than the safety of other humans and your own life.

I do not believe the pay structure at the regional airlines is a contributing factor for the lack in professionalism. I believe this because it’s the way they are trained. If they are trained lackadaisical then they will fly lackadaisical. I also believe it’s the supervisors and management that contributes to the lack of professionalism. Management wants to make money for the company putting pressure on the supervisors who in turn puts the pressures on the pilots.

Two ways I will maintain and expand my professionalism once employed is to always stay learning. Becoming complacent in the ways you accomplish tasks leads to a lack in judgment, leading to an accident. I will also hold others to a higher standard that is set out by the company. If I notice a lack of professionalism I won’t hesitate to report it even if they are my superior.

References

Reynolds, M. (2017, October 16). Small Airports Could Soon Be Doomed Thanks to America's Growing Pilot Shortage. Retrieved January 19, 2018, from http://fortune.com/2017/10/16/pilot-shortage-airports-tickets-flights/

Young, R., & O'Brian, M. (Producers). (2010). Frontline[Video file]. United States: PBS. Retrieved January 20, 2018.

University & Commercial Flight Schools. (2017, December 18). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://www.envoyair.com/cadet-program/

Introduction

1) 
My interest in aviation began while I was growing up. My parents would take me to museums and air shows.  I never knew how to become a pilot, so i never really searched for any flight schools or intro lessons. Then in 9th grade someone I knew began his career at EMU Aviation. Our parents were good friends and they told them how to start. I went on my discovery flight in 2011 and that is when I finally knew i wanted to become a pilot.


2) 
I am currently a senior studying Aviation Flight Technology. I am working on my Commercial multi add-on. I will be graduating in April.

3) 
My current career goals are skewed. I know I would like to work for Envoy or PSA airlines and flow through to American Airlines.  To get to the ATP minimums there a lot to do other than flight instruct. As my idea to get to the airlines changes almost every other week my plan right now is to finish multi and CFI. Then I would like to CFI out of state to build up some hours to the Part 135 SIC minimums. Then stay there till I reach the ATP minimums. That will more than likely changemore than once during this class.

4) 
I would like to see people who have a variety of work experience flying. Not just CFI to airlines. Also the FAA last semester, brought up reducing the ATP minimums. I would like to discuss this some more. I would also like to discuss what the airlines believe are good hours. Because some people say single-engine turbine time looks bad on a resume for the airlines but CFIs with just single piston time get hired.