What lies beneath

Pilot fatigue and mental health

At one time it seemed that technology was the demon waiting in the shadows of aviation. The dawn of the jet age and pressurisation brought challenges, while the increased level of automation introduced others. Each time leaps were made forward, some aspect of the advance was diminished by damning statistics and loss of life. However, in retrospect, while some of the technologies definitely needed further refinement, there was often an equal number of shortcomings on the human side of the equation. Now it seems that the human element is very much to the fore.

Pilot fatigue and mental health have been emerging in the media on an increasingly frequent basis and it begs the question whether this is a genuine trend, the by-product of raised awareness or media hype? The Germanwings and Fly Dubai accidents are two cases in point. As always in matters of aviation, the media will frequently address the headline rather than the heart of the subject, but still these human factors issues remain.