Airlines around the world – in particular Europe – yesterday updated their policies to make it mandatory to have two people inside the cockpit of their aircraft at all times.
In view of the Germanwings tragedy earlier this week, airlines scrambled into gear to come into line with new recommendations by the European Air Safety Agency. The US had already implemented the measure through its Federal Aviation Administration after the 11 September attacks. In hindsight everyone is wise. The captain on the ill-fated flight had tried to break down the door with an axe, but still could not get in. That was also the fruit of a well intended exercise following the US hijackings to make the cockpits more secure.
Air Malta is known to take the safety of passengers, crew and aircraft very seriously and some say that the airline always errs on the side of caution, diverting aircraft and landing them even when it might not be necessary. But when a disaster of such magnitude hits home, it becomes apparent that it is a very wise thing to do.
Sources in the industry said that Air Malta always had an unofficial policy to make sure that there are two crew members in the cockpit even when the captain or first officer takes a quick bathroom break. It is good to hear that Air Malta took the immediate decision to make it official policy.
No one could have predicted what the co-pilot on that flight was going to do. What was supposed to be a routine flight turned into the worst nightmare of many. It is understood that Lubitz was suffering from an illness, and had also been treated for depression in the past. Many have already started to snipe at the airline for not picking up on it. But it follows the classic pattern – many people who suffer from depression do so in silence and they hide it from their friends, family and employers.
While there should never be any discrimination, it does raise the point, however, of what screening takes place. Piloting is an elite job. These people have the lives of hundreds of people in their hands at any given time. As we already said, this was an incident that no-one could have predicted, but perhaps it is time to introduce more transparency into the industry, if only to restore the shattered confidence of air travellers, and also air crew who must be wondering to themselves whether their colleagues are fit to fly. In fact, Denmark has already ordered a new system to increase the scrutiny of the mental health of its pilots.
Air Malta is a different animal. It is a small tight-knit company where everyone knows each other, and perhaps a degree of familiarity exists whereby most aircrew know each other personally. But perhaps, it is still time to up the standards. Such a terrible event should never have taken place. Airlines owe it to their customers – and staff – to do all they can to prevent it from happening again.