Pilots and Depression

         The Germanwings crash is one of the most saddest aviation accidents in history.  On March 24th, 2015, Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed an Airbus 320 into the side of a mountain killing all 150 people on board.  During the flight, the captain got up and left the cockpit, prompting Lubitz to lock the captain out of the cockpit so he could take full control of the plane.  Lubitz set the altitude dial to 100 feet after ATC instructed the aircraft to fly at an altitude of 35,000 feet and then 21,000 feet.  It was noted that the altitude dial was reset back to 49,000 after it was set to 100 feet which made investigators believe that Lubitz almost didn't go through with this disaster.  After his altitude selections, the flight data recorder showed that Lubitz increased the aircrafts airspeed to 345 knots on descent and while ATC tried to contact the aircraft they never got a response.  The aircraft then crashed into the mountain killing all on board.
        Andreas Lubitz was known to have had dealt with depression before this accident.  "Last month German prosecutors revealed that Lubitz had researched suicide methods and the security of cockpit doors." (bbc.com).  The article also states that, "Lufthansa, Germanwings' parent company, twice refused to renew his medical certificate in 2009 due to depression, the BEA's preliminary report says." (bbc.com).  So the company was at least aware that Lubitz had mental issues that he was dealing with. 
       Another case of a pilot with mental issues is Egypt Air Flight 990 on October 31st 1999.  During this flight, the captain left to go to the bathroom and the co-pilot then locked him out of the cockpit.  The NTSB came out with a report that said you can hear the co-pilot say "I rely on God" and then start a steep descent into the ocean killing everyone on board.
       As of right now, commercial pilots are screened for physical and mental health every 6 months if you are over 40 years of age and once a year if you are under 40 years of age.  Although they do this screening, this is more focused on the physical aspect of the pilots and not necessarily the mental side.  As of right now, pilots are supposed to self identify any problems they may have and obviously not everyone self identifies if they have mental issues.  Personally, I do not believe this is the correct method because people are not always truthful with their ways.  Pilots know that if they do disclose their mental issues then they could possibly lose their source of income which is a huge factor in their decisions with lying about their conditions.  If the FAA and the Airlines were to try a more liberal approach I believe in could land them in more hot water this way.  If they had the power to tell someone they are not mentally fit to fly I feel like it would only cause more issues if by chance they were wrong about their diagnosis.  And it only takes one wrong case to discredit the FAA telling people that they are or are not mentally fit to fly.

References
Germanwings crash: Co-pilot Lubitz 'practised rapid descent' - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015.

How Pilots Are Screened for Depression and Suicide. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015.

Pilots blamed for deliberate plane crash deaths - CNN.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015.