The examiners who evaluate commercial pilots in Malta are not specialised in assessing or diagnosing mental illnesses, a top psychiatrist and UK Defence Ministry consultant told The Malta Independent.

Contacted for comment on the Airline Pilots Association Malta declarations that pilots undergo regular checks and tests by aero-medical examiners, Malta Psychiatrists Association liaison officer Beppe Micallef Trigona said that while this may be true, the examiners are not trained to look for mental ill health.

Dr Micallef Trigona – who also acts as a consultant psychiatrist for the UK’s Ministry of Defence – said that while aero medical examiners cannot make a diagnosis themselves, they are in a position to refer any challenging or unclear cases for further specialist opinion.

He said that through personal experience in Malta examiners do consult with specialists when in doubt.

“We believe that this relationship is a vital one to maintain since it contributes to our general safety and peace of mind,” Dr Micallef Trigona said.

The Airline Pilots Association Malta last week said that pilots are subjected to strict medical assessments made by approved aero-medical examiners every year.

ALPA said that physiological assessments are quite clear and easily administered, but 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.

“Although the facts are yet to be established on the GermanWings crash, a focus of the interest has been on the mental health of the co-pilot, with various reports citing a history of a depressive illness,” Dr Micallef Trigona said.

This, he said, has resulted in speculation about the health checks carried out on airline pilots.

“We would like to point out that a number of mental health tools are available to screen for specific mental health problems as well as overall mental health. These tools are validated by research, have a high degree of objectivity and when administered together with a full clinical assessment would provide a reliable indication about current mental health status,” Dr Micallef-Trigona explained.

“It is important to clarify that risk is not something that is either detectable or undetectable since risk is always present in high-intensity situations, and the role of specialists in mental health is to evaluate, manage, and minimise the implications and effects of detected risk,” he concluded.

The association expressed condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the GermanWings Airbus crash.