Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Le Bureau d’Enguetes et d’Analyses report into Andreas Lubitz, published on 13 March 2016, if his Department will bring forward proposals to enable airlines to access mental health records of pilots within their employment.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The UK has a long held, well-established and robust process for certifying the ‘fitness to fly’ of pilots.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has guidelines for doctors which give UK doctors an ethical duty to report concerns about a patient to the relevant authority if that condition presents a risk to public safety and the patient hasn’t reported it.
Medical requirements for commercial pilots are determined by European Legislation. In response to the Germanwings crash in March 2015, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing a European aeromedical data repository system which will be deployed by December 2016. This repository system will contain the current fitness to fly status of all European pilots. It is important that this repository is implemented on a European-wide basis, as many pilots who work in the UK or work for UK airlines are not resident in the UK, are not British nationals and have medical certificates that are overseen by other European States.
It is in the UK’s interests for all pilots flying in Europe to be subject to a high standard of medical fitness and common legislation, in the interests of aviation safety.
