Germanwings Flight 9525—Pilot Medical Privacy can still be protected

Out of this tragedy will hopefully spring increased safety for passengers and aircraft, but decision-makers involved in designing the corrective actions should use extra care ensuring they don’t undermine the very important latitude pilots have in privately seeking help from medical and psychological maladies that are common throughout the human experience. So much positive work has occurred in encouraging pilots to seek assistance for resolving substance addiction, for example, and a loss of medical privacy for pilots would certainly compromise this encouraging atmosphere, driving those fighting addiction into a world of secrecy, desperation, and avoid of help. As the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations has stated, life events affecting mental health are continually in flux and pilot well-being can therefore never be predicted. As Andre Picard of the Globe and Mail wrote yesterday: If you put rules in place that doctors must rat out patients who suffer from depression and other forms of mental illness, the only thing you will do is discourage people from seeking treatment. The solution is of course the Rule of Two crew members in the cockpit at all times and a fail-safe modification permitting a captain-only override of the cockpit security door.

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