ALPA-Malta today joined the international community in expressing its sincere condolences to the families of passengers and crew of Germanwings Flight 4U9525.

In a statement, the pilots association said it was deeply saddened by this tragic event, and the evidence suggesting a deliberate act in bringing down an aircraft is equally shocking. It is thus a major cause for concern for our profession and we understand this will inevitably bring up public discussion on a number of issues.

“We are somewhat concerned by the immediate leaking of sensitive Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) information. Air accident investigations should follow a protocol laid out in Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The purpose of a CVR is to assist the investigating team in determining what factors have led to the accident and not to apportion blame. The aim of the investigation itself should be to find out what happened, why it happened, and to make recommendations to prevent recurrence and not to apportion blame or liability. The fact that CVR data was released so early in the investigation casts a bad light on the whole investigation, especially when data from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) is yet to be analysed and released. This unfortunate turn of events has led to undesired speculation, which possibly disturbed the process and ultimate aim of the investigation itself.  

“ALPA-Malta welcomes any new procedures put in place to increase overall security. The secured cockpit concept, brought about by the unfortunate events of 11th September 2001, should remain a priority. Whilst welcoming the new EASA recommendation requiring two crew members in the cockpit at all times, we urge everyone concerned to avoid knee-jerk reactions to such an unfortunate, yet rare, event. Following the conclusion of the investigation, it would be worth reviewing fully the fundamentals of cockpit security and access procedures, with recommendations being made after appropriate risk assessments and careful considerations of all probable scenarios and consequences. We also ask the media, as well as the general public, to understand that such security procedures cannot and should never be divulged publicly. We understand questions will be put forward, but divulging certain security information would defeat the whole purpose of such procedures

2Whilst fully understanding the public’s concern on the issue, again we emphasise that sudden reactions should be avoided. Pilots are subjected to strict medical assessments made by approved aero-medical examiners (AMEs) annually. Whilst physiological assessments are quite clear and easily administered, the introduction of specific mental health assessments will inevitably prove very challenging to implement. Such assessments are very subjective and their reliability is questionable and would never assure that any risk cases are entirely detected.

 

Whilst improvements could be made, most notably on how pilots are certified unfit to fly in the short term, we would rather promote further education on mental health issues amongst the pilot community, as well as the introduction or improvement of programmes designed to encourage pilots to confidentially come forward and seek assistance if required. Such programmes should be fully supported by both operators and pilots’ associations. In conclusion, this accident, besides being a tragedy for the families of the victims involved, was a shock for pilots. Our career involves a great responsibility, in that people trust us with their lives, and having that trust betrayed is shockingly disturbing. Fortunately though, these cases have been very rare, and one must not forget that thousands of flights take off and land safely each day, with professional flight crew at the helm, supported by other personnel from other departments, all of whom are contributing to safe air travel. Yet again, this does not absolve stakeholders in the industry from the responsibility of preventing recurrences, and ALPA-Malta will remain committed to the safety of passengers and our own members and colleagues alike. We also urge the media and general public to refrain from speculating, but rather wait for the investigation to take its full due course.