Pilot union calls for mental health reform after flydubai incident

The calls follow the alleged hijacking attempt and emergency landing of flydubai flight FZ103 on Wednesday, 30 September.

The flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers and six crew on board when the aircraft descended rapidly from 34,000 feet to 15,000 feet within 90 seconds.

The captain on board, Smit Machchhar, was allegedly stabbed by the first officer, who was said to be trying to gain control and crash the aircraft. With assistance from the injured captain, several passengers and cabin crew entered the cockpit to restrain the co-pilot, and two relief pilots were able to retake control of the aircraft.

The pilots performed an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, approximately 85 minutes after the incident began. All passengers and crew were marked as safe and accounted for.

Captain Machchhar was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, including multiple stab wounds. The first officer, an Omani citizen, was detained and also treated for injuries sustained in the incident.

Speaking with The Australian, AIPA president Andrew Marshall said the incident was unlikely to occur in Australia and said he did not see a need for additional security measures to be introduced here.

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“I don’t think we’re there yet. There are issues specific to that region that I don’t think we’re necessarily caught up in,” he said.

However, he said the incident did bring to light questions around reasonable support for mental health and wellbeing, especially in light of recent reforms around the world.

“At the moment, there is a reluctance for people to come forth and have [mental health] conversations,” said Marshall.

“In Australia, [a] doctor has to immediately submit the details of a [mental health] consultation to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to make a decision, which generally results in the pilot being grounded for a period of time.”

However, other jurisdictions overseas, including New Zealand, have introduced the idea of a “Safe Haven” for aviation professionals, where mental health concerns can be shared with a primary care doctor or GP without requiring the doctor to immediately report this to the regulator.

Instead, “they deal with the problem on an individualised basis, and it’s up to the doctor to make a decision on the fitness of the pilot, engineer or air traffic controller to continue to work”, Marshall said.

A similar program to Safe Haven has just this week passed through the United States Senate, also removing requirements for pilots flagging mental health concerns to be immediately grounded and unable to work.

According to the international branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), around 20 per cent of airline pilots and air traffic controllers who report a mental health diagnosis are immediately stood down pending a review of their case by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while only 0.1 per cent are ultimately denied the ability to return to work.

Reviews can take up to 180 days, which can discourage pilots from seeking help.

“For far too long, pilots have faced a difficult choice between seeking necessary mental health care and maintaining their careers,” said ALPA president Captain Jason Ambrosi. “When pilots know that reporting treatment won’t sideline them for months on end, they’ll come forward, and the FAA gets the information it needs to make sound medical decisions.

“This bill would create a system that makes flying safer for passengers and crews alike.”

Marshall said he would like to see a similar policy to Save Haven be investigated and implemented in Australia,

“It would help people associated with aviation to get the mental health help they need,” he said.