Aviation safety is both an individual and a shared responsibility. The decisions and actions of individuals can have a profound impact on safety in specific situations, and aviation’s justifiably admired safety record is the result of cooperative risk identification and mitigation efforts between industry and government and across organizations, industry sectors and borders.
Both points have been driven home in the 16 months since the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash in the French Alps killed 150 passengers and crew as a result of the “deliberate and planned action of the copilot, who decided to commit suicide while alone in the cockpit.” As has been well documented, the accident investigation found that the copilot was taking prescription antidepressants with possible significant side effects and that, just weeks before the crash, a doctor had recommended treatment in a psychiatric hospital. But neither the pilot’s employer nor the appropriate regulator were informed. The crash …
