BIF: Germanwings 9525, and Media & Regulatory (Ir)responsibility
Today’s post is dedicated to the victims and loved ones of the Germanwings 9525 tragedy.
In these dark times, may they all find peace.
Welcome to our monthly Blogging in Formation discussion, wherein our team of 8 pilot-bloggers take to task a current aviation topic.
Today, on what’s celebrated as April Fool’s Day, we have a sadly apropos subject to discuss: the probable ill-conceived, knee-jerk, political sledgehammer “fixes” to the tragic Germanwings incident.
We start our discussion with media, and its apparently utter lack of knowledge and understanding in regards to aviation, whether from reporters themselves, or from self-proclaimed “experts” that endlessly parade before the camera after the latest air tragedy du jour.
In the desperate attempt to fill 24 hours of airtime, the media is quick to pounce on the tiniest morsel of information, and then, filling in the blanks with their own ignorant assumptions, jump to conclusions. They not only take the ball and run with it, they cross the goal line, run out of the stadium and into the woods.
In the case of Germanwings 9525, this tendency to fill in the blanks has been embarrassingly evident.
Moreover, they are quick to play Judge, Jury and Executioner. Did First Officer Andreas Lubitz commit suicide? Perhaps, but as I said, we still have only the tiniest morsel of information, improperly leaked, and this has been where all the wild speculation has emanated. While the investigation is still ongoing, Lubitz has already been convicted of High Treason by the world court of opinion, thanks to CNN et al. Yes, he may guilty, but meanwhile his family and loved ones suffer a double dose of tragedy.
I hold out hope that we eventually discover that other factors, such as hypoxia, may have played a role.
Airwaysnews.com asked me to do an Op Ed on the subject of media speculation, which will start off our discussion today. This article was picked up in syndication and shared on several other sites, including Business Insider:
“I have cringed at the utter misrepresentation of aviation facts often disseminated by news outlets and their self-proclaimed “aviation experts” endlessly paraded across the TV screen during coverage of the latest air disaster. Coverage of the tragic crash of Germanwings 9525 has been no exception.”
Read the rest of the article here, then join us back here for more:
http://airwaysnews.com/blog/2015/03/26/op-ed-responsible-journalism-and-the-air-crash-du-jour/
Next up, Formation Blogger Mark L. Berry talks candidly about the realities of a line pilot dealing with a serious personal tragedy:
“I am a commercial airline pilot with first hand knowledge of how a major airline handles mental health issues. Pilots fear and loathe being grounded. We have to take check rides and pass FAA-mandated medical exams every year, and either one could clip our wings. And as a stoic group, we tend to secretly resent placing our own well-being in anyone else’s hands. But I learned that the people we can be forced to see—when our personal and/or professional worlds turn upside down—have as much interest as we do in helping return us to the cockpit—but only when we are ready.”
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Read Mark’s piece, “Inside the Head of Those Inside the Cockpit,” then report back!:
http://airwaysnews.com/blog/2015/03/31/op-ed-inside-the-head-of-those-inside-the-cockpit/
Finally, our journey takes us to this month’s Formation Blogger Ron Rapp’s site, where he predicts:
“. . . a storm of ill-conceived responses; blowback from the FAA, EASA, and other government agencies. Politicians, concerned about image rather than substance, will feel pressured to “do something”, and do it big. Not being pilots, they won’t concern themselves with all the ramifications. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear calls for cameras in the cockpit, mandates for ground-based override of the pilot, recurrent Federal psychological testing of all aviators, and who knows what else.”
Join us in the discussion going on NOW at
HOUSE OF RAPP, http://www.rapp.org!
Addendum: Karlene’s excellent post on our subject:
http://karlenepetitt.blogspot.com/2015/04/mental-heath-and-pilot.html
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