Depressed? You’re suspended then, says CAA.

by Rick Johansen

Did you know that an airline pilot suffering from a mental disorder is likely to do what Andreas Lubitz did to the Germanwings plane and fly it into the Alps? The answer, almost certainly, that you don’t know that because it isn’t true, but the Civil Aviation Authority review into the mental state of British pilots came up with some interesting results.

Some 447 pilots “declared that they had suffered from a mental disorder in the last five years”. Of this number, 350 were suspended, 74 remain suspended and 276 have since returned to work. They were suffering from illnesses including depression, “adjustment disorder”, anxiety, a stress disorder and post-traumatic stress. That would be me well and truly buggered, then, if my next career move was to become a commercial airline pilot.

The fact that so many pilots have been allowed to return to the air is no surprise to me. I was able to function perfectly well during my working life, despite regular and prolonged “episodes” of depression. Admittedly, I was not piloting an aircraft but with a combination of medication, therapy and my own mental strength and determination, very few people knew. Well, you couldn’t tell anyone, could you, what with the stigma that accompanies the illness?

All in all, the CAA review appears to be fair enough. There are definitely issues to be addressed and there will be concerns with the public after the Germanwings crash, but I am more concerned about a particular part of it:

“With the implementation of European regulations in 2012 it became possible for existing aircrew to regain a medical certificate following complete recovery from a depressive illness while still taking certain maintenance medication (which decrease the risk of relapse) if they follow a particular protocol.

“This has likely lead to more pilots declaring their condition in 2013/14 and receiving appropriate treatment whilst being suspended from flying.”

Again, this all seems reasonable, but wait. The qualification that bothers me is the reference to “a complete recovery”. That all seems cut and tried. Unless you make “a complete recovery”, this indication is clear: you cannot fly and aircraft. What else can’t you do? Drive a car? Operate on a production line? Drive a train? If you are a surgeon, carry out operations?

I do not expect to ever make a complete recovery from my own demons. I know them well and my best way forward is to try to manage the symptoms and effects. That is, I know, a statement of resignation, but I believe it is the reality. I would love to be proved wrong. But regardless of this, I can still live like a fully functioning human being. Whilst my brain doesn’t always function quite how I’d like it to, I do not have problems working and behaving just like everyone else. Put simply: I can still do a good job even though I may never fully recover. However, the CAA position is unequivocal:

“If a pilot has experienced a serious illness, they will only be provided with a medical certificate if a specialist medical professional is satisfied they have made a full recovery.

There it is again: full recovery. No wonder many depressives are driven underground, fearing the stigma, pretending there isn’t a problem. Just look what will happen to you if you are an airline pilot with a mental disorder.

I understand that the CAA will not mince words, in part because of what happened with Germanwings and further in part to anything that could happen in the future, but what we really need, in aviation and everywhere else, is a situation whereby employees are free to report mental illness to their employer and thereafter have access to support.

Andreas Lubitz was at the extreme end of mental illness and cannot be remotely compared to the vast majority of us who suffer from one condition and/or another. That he got through the net and was able to destroy an aircraft along with himself and all his passengers was of great concern and needs to be addressed. But please don’t assume we’re all like that.

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