FSF Wades In On Germanwings Accident Report As Investigator Recommends Sweeping Changes To Pilot Medical Privacy Laws

Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), an independent, non-profit, international organization engaged in research, education, advocacy and publishing to improve aviation safety with a mission to be the leading voice of safety for the global aerospace community, has issued a statement on the findings of investigations into the March 24, 2015, crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, in which 150 passengers and crew were killed. 

A Germanwings A319 - Courtesy: wikimedia

According to its final report published earlier this week, the aviation accident investigation agency of France, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) said the accident was due to the "deliberate and planned action of the copilot, who decided to commit suicide while alone in the cockpit." In the light of this, the Bureau recommended that “Europe should change rules governing doctor-patient privacy when the patient’s mental state and job could put lives at risk.”

The Airbus A320 was flown deliberately into the French Alps during a scheduled flight in March 2015 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, killing all 150 people aboard. A preliminary report on the crash by French agency BEA revealed that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, alone on the flight deck, switched the selected altitude from 38,000 ft. to 100 ft. (the minimum value possible on an Airbus A320) and increased the speed of the aircraft, setting in motion an intentional descent into the French Alps.

"We commend the BEA for challenging regulators and the industry to come up with better rules for balancing a patient's right of medical privacy with public safety," said Jon Beatty, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation.  "It's disturbing to learn that the Germanwings copilot was taking prescription antidepressant medications with possible significant side effects, and that a doctor just weeks before this tragedy had recommended psychiatric hospital treatment, but neither the pilot's employer nor the regulator were informed. We need to find better ways to encourage pilots and other safety professionals to come forward to obtain treatment for mental health issues without jeopardizing their jobs, but it's unacceptable to keep their employers and regulators in the dark, and the traveling public at risk," he stressed.