Part 8: Germanwings, From a Medical Perspective

Today I find myself again discussing the 2015 Germanwings crash.  The crash was absolutely pivotal to subsequent FAA policy. I came to this with one pressing question: How was Lubitz, the 27-year-old co-pilot that crashed the plane and murdered 149 others, ever permitted to fly that day? He had 41 doctors in 5 years, 7 in the month prior to his crash. And, his physicians had lots of concerns.

Here is what I have concluded: Lubitz was terrified he was going blind and deaf. But he was also afraid of losing his job. So he spent a lot of time seeing doctors while also hiding his problems. If we are to believe the investigations that followed, his colleagues did not know how ill he was. His girlfriend was also in the dark. And, as for his psychiatrist – well, they wrote the following:

Part 7: Is That Carp I Smell?

There is a new FAA policy that has got me all riled up. Starting January 1st, 2025, the FAA intended to stop issuing Deferrals. Instead, they were going to simply fire off Denials.

This was, temporarily, halted by a consortium of Pilot Associations. Here is the letter that hit the pause button with the FAA:

Part 6: The FAA and Mental Health Deferrals: 328 days later, 43% are denied

This is how you lie with statistics. The FAA claims that 96% of medical certification applicants are ultimately certified. Another FAA source claims 0.1% get denied. And some say hell runs a little hot.

If you answer “yes” and disclose mental health issues to your AME, you are really looking at a roughly 50-50 coin-flip that takes 1+ years to determine whether you get your license.

Part 5: The FAA's Rube Goldberg Machine

In my last blog entry, we reviewed the FAA policy that permits the renewal of a pilot’s or ATC’s license without an extended review.  It’s unlikely, but possible.  There are a lot of hoops to jump through and very few people will meet the criteria.  So, the great majority will get deferred.  What happens then?

New FAA policy dictates precisely what the AME is to do when a pilot admits to taking a prescription antidepressant. It is fairly straightforward:  They get deferred and they are offered a choice: (1) Either stop the antidepressant or (2) continue using it.

Part 4: The FAA's Not So Fast Track

This is Part 4 of my series looking at FAA policies with regards to the mental health of Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers.  If you have been following my comments, you’ll know I consider the system deeply flawed.  Current policies encourage vast underreporting of medical issues, resulting in large amounts of untreated depression among pilots and ATCs. 

We can do better.

Today, I am going to discuss some of the most recent FAA attempts to address the problems we have been discussing. Specifically, the FAA has modified the processing of Deferred cases and, in a second policy change, may allow an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to approve licensure where, in the past, a Deferral was mandated.

Nuclear Weapons Flight Incident - 1950s

Another brief departure from the FAA.

I just read a book, "Shards: Dialogues of War" by a very close friend, George Heuston.  He just published it.  The book is a collection of interviews with Vets coupled with a reading of his great-great-grandfather's Civil War diary.  It was a great read and I congratulate George on this, his fourth book.  

One of his stories, in particular, shocked me.  I have read a lot of about accidents and mishaps involving nuclear weapons but I had never heard this story.  I am wondering if we can somehow verify it.  It seems important.

Part 3: Deferring Timelessly

Let’s dig deeper. 

When a pilot sees an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME), there are three possible outcomes:  They can get their renewal, they can be banned from flying planes, or their pilot license can be deferred. 

A renewal is good for a certain amount of time.  It differs according to your age and the classification of the pilot. Commercial pilots have more frequent renewals than, say, someone driving a piston aircraft.  And older pilots have their medical clearances expire sooner than their younger colleagues. 

But regardless of when the medical exam is due, all pilots are supposed to report to an AME if they develop a new health condition, no matter where they are on the AME timeclock.  They usually don't, but policy is that they should.