Experts: Pilots Reluctant To Disclose Mental Illness
(CBS) -- The German co-pilot accused of deliberately steering a commercial plane into the French Alps hid medical problems from his employers.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot takes a look at the stigma surrounding mental health and pilots.
Robert Mark is a former commercial airline pilot and current business jet pilot. The publisher of the aviation insider blog, Jetwhine.com, says pilots would be reluctant to reveal if they had mental health issues.
What's more, Mark says: "There's no plan for that. No airline wants to touch that."
Airlines referred CBS 2 to the FAA for comment about mental health evaluations for pilots and co-pilots.
The FAA says its medical application form includes questions pertaining to the mental health. Pilots can be sent for additional psychological testing. All existing physical and psychological conditions and medications must be disclosed.
But one mental health expert says he assumes pilots would not be forthcoming about that information.
"There are a lot of pilots that say, 'I'm not going to do that because if I tell them, I'm done,'" says Todd DuBose, a full professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
"That's how powerful an avoidance of stigma and dismissal can be, that it can be so powerful, it can override taking care of yourself and the care of other people at times," he adds.
Meantime, the FAA says pilots not disclosing any physical or psychological conditions, or medications can be fined up to $250,000, if they falsify information.
