Another 25 testing areas
The many mentions of possible investigative intrusions into every aspect of a pilots life represent more ways a pilot may be incorrectly deemed unfit to fly. Those intrusions are all valid because we can think of cases where they have been valid. But each new one also represents another possible step up in pilot apprehension about how he is being viewed by his employers, each new one representing an additional level of distrust. One distinction that has repeatedly cropped up in posts is that suicide and murder usually do not have the same personality profiles, but there are at least some cases where they do.
The trait of empathy has come up a few times and needs to be emphasized more because empathy enables social responsibility, and lack of it weakens social responsibility. I would guess (but don't know) that the probability of lack of empathy was higher in people where suicide was combined with murder. Unlike some other traits, I think empathy or weakness can be revealed in mental assessments. Those with more knowledge I should speak up about this.
However it appears clear that there was more involved than simple murder here. This was an act of anger and retribution made in isolation against something about which we so far have virtually no information on.
It's amazing how easy it is to find exceptions to all of the suggestions for improvements. An evaluation including empathy also has flaws as possibly/probably the case of Egyptair 990, where a last minute blowup having powerful repercussions on the pilot probably precipitated an action he would not otherwise have taken. Without that bit of information about 990's pilot, the question of possible motivation was quite a mystery. With that bit the scenario of a sudden decision to throw away a lifetime's work and an imminent and comfortable retirement becomes at least somewhat plausible and less mysterious. The same kind of thing may have occurred in the GW case that made him pick this flight, or any flight at all. Just because there is intention, planning, and motivation doesn't mean final action always results. If that was true there would be a lot more instances of violence of every kind than there are. We can hope that there might be some additional suggestions of this possibility in the CVR portions not yet released, or that other figures in the GW pilot's social circle may yet come up with more information. It is a little odd that quotes by people who knew this person have been so very few. So far he doesn't seem to have had a social life outside of flying glider, which we need to recall is a group activity. However it is unfortunately also easy to come up with last minute pilot pressures that do not involve last minute relational blowups. Every new slice of preventive cheese being suggested has its own set of holes.
Last edited by Leightman 957; 7th Apr 2015 at 16:30.
Reason: clarified meaning