飞行员“自杀行为”无法彻底预防

作者：Siva Govindasamy/Swati Pandey

调查人员试图找出年轻的德国飞行员蓄意操纵空客A320客机坠毁的原因；飞行员和心理学家们警告称，没有万无一失的方法防止类似事件再次发生。

27岁的德翼航班副驾驶Andreas Lubitz周二操纵客机坠毁，机上150人全部遇难。

德国《图片报》（Bild）周五报导，Lubitz六年前曾因“严重抑郁”接受过精神治疗。此次事故引发外界呼吁对飞行员采取更加严格的心理健康和压力测试。

国际民用航空组织建议患有抑郁症的人不应驾驶飞机。但该组织在《民用航空医学手册》（Manual of Civil Aviation Medicine）中指出，对机组人员的心理测试“基本没用”，无法可靠地预测心理问题。

分析师和飞行员们指出，航空公司采取的措施或许不够。

威尔·康奈尔医学院（Weill Cornell Medical College）精神病学教授Gail Saltz指出，人们担忧如果上报自己的问题，可能会失去工作。

亚洲一家航空公司的机长称：“他们询问你的心理健康，以及可能影响心理的事情。但谁愿意承认可能导致执照被吊销的事情？我不会。我需要我的工作。”

——————

As investigators probe why a young German pilot deliberately crashed an Airbus A320 passenger jet into the French Alps on Tuesday, pilots and psychologists warn there is no foolproof way to prevent similar incidents in the future.

All 150 people on board Germanwings flight 4U9525 died after 27-year-old first officer Andreas Lubitz locked the cockpit door, took control of the plane and veered it down from cruising altitude at 3,000 feet per minute.

German tabloid Bild reported on Friday that Lubitz received psychiatric treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago, and the crash has prompted calls for more rigorous mental health and stress tests for pilots.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.N. body that sets global aviation standards, recommends that someone with depression should not fly a plane. But it also states in its Manual of Civil Aviation Medicine that psychological tests of aircrew are "rarely of value" and not "reliable" in predicting mental disorders.

These may not be enough, analysts and pilots say.

"People are afraid they won't be able to resume their jobs" if they self-report, said Gail Saltz, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

An experienced captain with an Asian airline added: "They ask about your mental health, about events that could affect you psychologically. But who willingly admits to anything that could lead to a suspension of their license? I won't. I need my job."