SHANGHAI ¨C Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who steered a Germanwings flight into a mountainside, had a history of depression so debilitating that he left his pilot training program for six months in the late 2000s, reports Germany¡¯s Bild newspaper.
When he was ready to return, he had to pass a battery of psychological tests required for pilot certification, as well as another series of tests that were a prerequisite for his job at Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings. But in all likelihood, that was the last time Lubitz¡¯s employer or government subjected him to a formal psychological evaluation.
In hindsight, that might seem an instance of negligence. But it¡¯s sadly representative of the broader problems with how the aviation industry, and especially budget carriers like Germanwings, have failed to prioritize pilots¡¯ psychological health.
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