Originally Posted by
21Elite
Depression is a mental illness. This should have put a big question mark over his suitability to fly a commercial or any other type of aeroplane. It would seem to me that Lufthansa/German Wings are culpable. They knew he had been ill and yet allowed him to take charge of a Commercial Aircraft and the lives of 150 people.
...and that is surely entirely the wrong response! We don't want people flying who _are_ ill, and the way to ensure that is not to make ever having been ill a bar to the career. Because if you make any depressive illness a career ender, nobody will ever report that they might be suffering from one again, and if you make the medical profession don people seeking help in to their employers, people simply won't seek help. You'll achieve an overnight 100% cut in the number of people who are known to have depression in their past flying planes.., and future depressed pilots will only ever be diagnosed in accident investigation reports...