GeoffM

Seems he was signed off work on the day of the crash.

But - not directed at anyone in particular and talking generally - let's remember that "mental health issues" cover a broad spectrum of issues, plenty of which do not affect a pilot's ability to work. There is the risk of media hype over mental health setting back progress made with stigmas associated with such.

Pulaski

I meant "of the pilot".

MMcD

He was?
Where did you see that?

Yes. Good to point that out
In fact, it's that very stigma that likely contributed to the co-pilots duplicity

MMcD

Changing/editing your post - to which I responded - after the fact and in a way that makes my response appear idiotic - does not reflect well on you.

GeoffM

I was listening to BBC Radio 2 this morning. However, a quick Google finds it on various news sites. Here's the Telegraph's mass media overload, also known as a website.

scrubbedexpat097

Reading all the news feeds and watching the news it seems that it happened the way it is being reported.

I have one thing to say. I feel that until all the evidence has been officially confirmed this should not have been made public. There may be another explanation, I know it is unlikely, but putting myself in his parents place it would be bad enough your son had died, and unthinkable at what he had done. So if there was even a remote chance this was the wrong reason this tragedy happened why make it public until the final inquiry report ?

GeoffM

Yes - too much is "leaked" these days, not to mention media overdrive to come up with theories from day 0. Can't remember which one but there was an incident not so long ago where everybody slammed one person in particular and by the time the report came out it was a very different story.

Pulaski

It's a valid point, but the risk of stigmatizing an employee needs to be balanced against the risk they necessarily expose others to. If a factory worker or shop assistant has a melt down at work, unless they obtain a gun (which is a whole other discussion - maybe we should look into it some time here on BE? ) they pose a negligible risk to others, whereas a bus driver poses a greater risk, and a train driver even more still (higher speed, more passengers), and an aeroplane pilot is close to, if not at the top of the list. People should expect the greatest degree of caution in the mental well being of pilots.

Yorkieabroad

There was an article on the radio yesterday, when someone was questioning the haste with which it had all been released. Apparently (according to this article) one of the french news agencies had been leaked some info about the cockpit voice recorder so the Prosecutor decided he had no option but to release what he knew.

Yorkieabroad

Yes, apparently so - its been all over CNN/CBS/NBC today.

GeoffM

No - it's the "he's got a mental illness, he's not fit to fly" mentality that is the stigma issue. It's not for the general public to be the judge of whether (s)he can fly but the patient's doctors. And, of course, it's not the public's - and certainly not the media's - business.

Michael

The problem with that is that families want to know and get angry when they get a run around by the airline and regulators. With most crashes, an official report can take years.

With the NY Times reporting that the pilot was locked out, that forced the French prosecutor to make that information public. If there wasn't a leak, the families may not have any idea what probably happened for years.

Therefore there are good and bad points about leaks.

As an example, it took a very long time for an official report and cockpit recordings released from the FAA indicating that the Egypt airline that crashed off NY was a suicide but Egypt didn't accept the findings.

Pulaski

Which is kind of the point I am making, I think opposing what you're saying, that pilots should be held to a higher standard when it comes to mental competence to be at work. I am not saying we should have to put it to a public vote, but that pilots with a shadow over their mental competence shouldn't be flying commercial jets.

Cardienscarf

Because the media really doesn't care how it affects the people involved. They just want the story - any story will do really.

MMcD

I have a feeling we agree - but interpret Geoff's post saying he (the co-pilot) was signed off work on the day of the crash differently.

I take that to mean that the co-pilot let his employers know he would not be coming to work that day and had transmitted to them the sick note he'd received from his doctor.

Of course, that's not what he did.
He tore up the note, Lufthansa had no idea he'd received it and he reported to work that fateful day.