The new findings come a year and a half after a Germanwings co-pilot who suffered from depression deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people. Out of nearly 3,500 pilots who participated in the survey, 1,848 completed the questions about mental health. Within this group, 233 (12.6 percent) met the criteria for likely depression and 75 (4.1 percent) reported having suicidal thoughts within the previous two weeks. A greater proportion of male pilots than female pilots reported that “nearly every day” they had experiences of loss of interest, feeling like a failure, trouble concentrating, and thinking they would be “better off dead.” The study suggested that more confidence an transparency is needed between pilots and the airline companies to obtain increased security in commercial flights.
