Flight International - 5 June 2018

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E

fforts within the air transport

sector to overcome stigma

attached to mental health prob-

lems are progressing, but work is

still needed to achieve parity of

treatment between psychological

and physical illnesses.

The deliberate crash of a

Germanwings Airbus A320 in

March 2015, with the loss of 150

lives, jolted the airline industry

into confronting cockpit mental

health head-on, although the

accident was not unique in its in-

volvement of a pilot under psy-

chiatric pressure.

Speaking after a Royal Aero-

nautical Society conference on

aircrew mental health in London

on 24 May, chartered psycholo-

gist Marc Atherton said that,

prior to the Germanwings crash,

pilot mental health was “a taboo

subject”.

Centre for Aviation Psychology

director Aedrian Bekker says that

“normalising” the issue, to en-

sure pilots feel able to seek and

obtain support, remains one of

the most difficult obstacles.

COMMON TROUBLES

“This is not a witch-hunt for sui-

cidal pilots,” he says. Carriers

and regulators have an interest in

ensuring that crews are not suf-

fering from distractions from the

“common troubles” of life, which

might result in accidental – but

potentially hazardous – slips dur-

ing flight operations.

The conference brought to-

gether various representatives in

the airline, regulatory, cockpit

ROLLOUT

First ANA superjumbo breaks cover

The first Airbus A380 for All Nippon Airways has rolled out of final

assembly in Toulouse. The manufacturer says the superjumbo,

which already has the Japanese carrier’s logo on its tail, will move

to an outdoor station where structural completion, engine instal-

lation and cockpit furnishing will be conducted. Earlier this year,

the airline announced that its three A380s will each be configured

with 520 seats: eight in first, 56 in business, 73 in premium econo-

my and 383 in economy. The aircraft will be powered by Rolls-

Royce Trent 970 engines. Delivery of ANA’s first A380 is

scheduled for early 2019, after which it will be deployed on the

Tokyo-Honolulu route.

Airbus

SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI- MORROW LONDON

Targeting mental health stigma head-on

While programmes to support psychological wellbeing of pilots are achieving success, some carriers are ignoring issue

and medical community to

explore the effectiveness of

assistance programmes, such as

American Airlines’ Project Wing-

man, and the European Pilot Peer

Support Initiative (EPPSI).

Cornerstone Barristers’ Gerard

Forlin points out that support

efforts crucially need to

emphasise to pilots that mental

health treatment does not mean

the loss of a career, and that the

legal and insurance sectors simi-

larly need convincing.

“If you take away the ability to

fly, you take away what [pilots]

live for,” he says, adding: “I think

we’re in massive danger of driv-

ing this underground.”

EPPSI executive board mem-

ber and UK cockpit union

BALPA representative Capt Dave

Fielding says that air safety inves-

tigation has normally dealt with

analysis of definite technical and

operational matters.

“The problem with the Ger-

manwings accident is that it’s the

human mind, it’s psychology, it’s

not black-and-white,” he says.

Fielding also highlights the

difficulties with addressing stig-

ma, alluding to cases in which

peer-support programmes have

achieved extraordinary success,

yet which risk drawing counter-

productive reactions if publicised.

Centre for Aviation Psychology

director and professor Robert Bor

says that pilots need to be shown

the positive outcomes which re-

sult from rapid access to help,

adding that over 90% of affected

pilots return to work.

Support efforts need to focus

on education and understanding

the difference between being

stressed, but functioning, and

stressed to breakdown, he says.

Bor also argues that taking the

problem out of the air transport

industry sphere might not be the

best approach, because the

individual would probably

benefit from being treated by

aviation specialists.

GREATER AWARENESS

While he says there is greater

mental health awareness and mo-

mentum within the airline indus-

try, Bekker cautions over the risk

of forgetting that pilots in other

sectors are vulnerable – particu-

larly in business aviation, which

he describes as the “poor rela-

tive” of commercial air transport.

He also warns that acceptance

is not uniform across airlines,

and that some have yet to make

the shift towards dealing with

the problem. “I’ve come across

airlines which just don’t register

this as a risk,” he says, adding

that these carriers would rather

“bury their head in the sand”

and wait for regulatory action

than be pro-active. ■

AirTeamImages

Deliberate crash of Germanwings A320 shocked the airline industry