Passengers of a United Airlines plane in Austin, Texas were right to be alarmed at the weekend when their pilot boarded in plain clothes, then got on the intercom and ranted about her divorce and her political opinions. Some passengers live-tweeted the incident and about 50 people demanded to get off. Eventually, other airline staff intervened and the pilot was escorted from the plane.
Given the Germanwings incident in 2015, when the co-pilot flew his jet into a mountain, killing 150 people, and suspicions that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was deliberately ditched into the ocean the year before, the mental health of pilots is a serious issue.
It would be easy to demand that the United pilot be sacked, but it would be better to ensure that she has appropriate treatment. Other pilots might be dissuaded from reporting anxiety, stress, fatigue or other issues if they thought it would lead to dismissal. Mental illness is serious, but treatable, and it can strike anyone. How employers and the rest of us deal with it is vitally important.
