Originally Posted by
Hew Jampton
From the
East Anglian Daily Times:
A pilot who booked an escort for a “girlfriend experience” has been jailed after stalking her when their relationship soured. Airline pilot Naveen Beefnah, 36, took the woman for a week’s holiday in Greece while paying for her company, Ipswich Crown Court heard. ......... Mr Wayne, mitigating, said his client has “struggled with depression now for some years”, worsened by his time in custody on remand.
I would have hoped that after the Germanwings crash, such a diagnosis would preclude being an airline pilot, at least temporarily.
Having never experienced depression, it’s hard to put myself in such a position.
But depression is absolutely no excuse for stalking to whatever level it was in this case. Friends I know with clinical depression are absolutely nothing like this, it may not even be a factor, let alone the cause.
What about depression would make someone unsuitable completely in a flight deck? I think it’s complete lack of understanding to think blanket removing any every pilot from a flight deck who has a diagnosis. There are many factors, and each individual is different; but you can absolutely do the job effectively, I suspect there are a fair amount that do.