Pilot screening questioned after Germanwings Flight 9525 crash
WASHINGTON -- Revelations from French prosecutors that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 have air travelers around the world wondering, and worrying, about the crew in their cockpit.
In the U.S., commercial pilots are screened and evaluated prior to being hired. On the job, they undergo medical exams every six months for pilots 40 or older and every year for those who are younger.
But determining a pilot's mental and emotional state can be difficult. Dr. Gary Miller is a designated aviation medical examiner. He says pilots have to self-report if they're having feelings of depression.
"They're legally required to disclose those things under penalty of jail and fine, if you fail to do so," Miller says. "But, of course, people can lie."
To prevent suicide by plane or hijackings, after September 11th U.S. airlines reinforced cockpit doors and added new protocols.
When a pilot exits the cockpit, a flight attendant or relief pilot must replace him, so that the other crew member is never alone. Before the Germanwings crash, Europe did not have the same guidelines.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, worldwide there have been at least nine pilot suicides since 1976 and more than 1,000 hijackings since 1931.
All 217 passengers and crew died when Egypt Air Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Nantucket in 1999. U.S. investigators believe the co-pilot was to blame.
"We have thousands and thousands and thousands of flights and thousands of pilots, so it's not unexpected that a few people are going to have emotional problems or psychological problems," MIT professor of aeronautics John Hansman says. "So we have to have systems that are robust for that."
Changes in the aviation industry usually take years. But within hours of the Germanwings disclosure Thursday, some European and all Canadian airlines made it mandatory for two people to be in the cockpit at all times.