In the news today

skotty

Gideon Levy wrote (see)

That or public execution by burning for anyone failing in a bid to carry out such a crime. They are cowards at the end of it all and no one would commit a crime punishable by a fiery death.

that will make it easy to talk them out of it once they've decided on their course of action and started their descent.

Screamapillar

I'm not sure how much doubt there can be about MH370 to be honest.

It didn't just stop communicating and then fly straight. It stopped communicating, changed direction, flew around Penang making a series of banking moves (the theory is that the pilot was taking a last look at his home) and only then flew straight out into the Indian Ocean.

The pilot does seem to have been a bit more merciful by putting his passengers to sleep through hypoxia before he killed them all.

The BBC is reporting that pilot suicide only occurs only once every 5-10 years but it is looking like three in three years at the moment, MH370, this one and, one in November 2013. I'm pretty sure I read that there was also a failed one in 2012.

Anyhow, this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32075657

 

Peter Everitt

Dave The Iron Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

Very few modern medium haul aircraft cockpits have 3 seats

That's fine as it fits nicely with the story today about sedentary jobs...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32069698

 

VDOT52

Snotty- the world loves anyone who redeems themselves. If they freely decide that they made a mistake, then they should only be locked up in an asylum until they are deemed well enough to collect their pension.



If they are wrestled from the controls screaming that they want everyone to suffer and die- well then that is what they should get for themselves.

cougie

Slightly less awful than the Plane Suicide Murder -



http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/mysteruns-club-leader-defends-number-swapping-london-20130/

Doubly Bionic Ironwolf

According to news info today, evidence taken from the German Wings co-pilot's flat and his parent's house indicates he had long-term mental problems including severe depression. How could he be flying aircraft if he wasn't completely compos mentis? And no explanation has come up yet for the missing 6 months when he took a break from his flying training.

Screamapillar

I suppose if you are determined enough you'll do all you can to hide the illness - especially if it will genuinely threaten your employability.

That said, I think clear that psychological evaluation methods are going to have to be reviewed for pilots.

It's always going to be a fine line though. Does it mean that there will need to be certain jobs that you are not allowed to do if you have ever had had mental health problems? Where do you draw the line between public safety and discrimination?

seren nos

i read a comment earlier from someone saying that they would never want to fly in a plane with someone who had sufferred from depression..

 

 I thought this rather silly when you realise the number of people that will suffer at some stage of their life,,,,,,

also would mean that people would not seek help in early stages as they would lose their careers and jobs and so much more likely to hide it and then fgo off the deep end.

also would you then use the same conditions for bus drivers and train drivers.also taxi drivers...

then probably the same for doctors and nurses that hold your life in their hands.....maybe anyone who works with children in anyway..

It gets ridiculous

some people suffer from depression all their lives......

others suffer from it for a short period and then have no re occurrence as the factors that caused it have changed.....

I am lucky to be in the latter group...

Dubai runner

All aircraft have at least one if not two jumpseats. The purpose is for a safety pilot or examiner.

also all aircraft have an axe on the flight deck in case of emergency so no need to smuggle hammers..etc

On a lighter note the news here today said there would be rain and they were right, our second day of rain in eleven months! No one knows were the windscreen wipers are so drive with their hazard lights on but still at 140kph!

VDOT52

If the airline had looked into this guys sports activities they would have immediately realised that he was a wrongun. On the news today were several pictures of him running a race wearing headphones. What more evidence could they need?

Screamapillar

Case closed then.

I have to say with the amount of silly conspiracy theories I have read on other  fora (why people are so reluctant to accept the most logical explanation is beyond me) it is a relief to read the posts here.

I have even seen people querying why the pilot needed the toilet on such a short flight - WTF, because he is human! 

[Deleted User]

I feel awfully sad for the co pilots parents. The shock of losing their son and then find he is suspected of deliberately killing all those people. How do you go on from that?

seren nos

agree Miffi...

Screamapillar

Awful, I agree 

seren nos

I think we will have to await the investigations.there are so much crap and rumours going around...

Screamapillar

I am not an experrt CT but depression doesn't usually result in psychosis. He might have been hearing a voice telling him what to do (actually a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia) but equally he might have made what was, for him, a rational decision to do what he did when the opportunity arose. Certainly the evidence is that he was not having a psychotic episode but acting in a calm and controlled way, even "breathing normally" as he plunged to his death.

There is also the possibllity that he may have been suffering as a result of medication. It isn't unknown for anti depressants to cause very negative effects in some people who take them.

Ultimately we may never know what was actually going on in his mind. And it isn't like there is going to be much, if anything left of him to do toxicology tests on.

VDOT52

I had thought that the pilot could have set it up to get his family paid out on his private and employers insurance. If would have involved, sedating the co pilot, altering the planes course, wedging the cockpit door ajar and then hitting the lock out button(assuming it would allow the door to close afterwards)and then leaving the cockpit quickly so that it only became apparent what was happening when he was away from the controls.



Maybe far fetched, but as there is no actual way of proving anything, it is at least a possibility.

[Deleted User]

In other news I liked this story on the bbc website



A convicted fraudster used an "ingenious" escape plot to trick prison wardens into letting him go free, a court has heard.



Wandsworth inmate Neil Moore was on remand when he used an illicit mobile phone to create a fake email account.



He posed as a senior court clerk and sent bail instructions to prison staff, who released him on 10 March 2014.

VDOT52

did he share a cell with Stan Less?

Nayan

I read that uk and usa pilots has psych tests as part of their regular checks but European airlines limit it to physical fitness only.



Sounds like a good reason to pick your flights carefully to me.

Screamapillar

I read an interview with a British pilot that said there is an element of it but it doesn't go very far. It pretty much consists of asking few questions about their mental health and relying on them to tell the truth. You can see where the flaw is... 

Dubai runner

Bit like how many units of alcohol do you drink in a week...

RicF

Well I've been depressed, but I never felt like suicide or even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't have been taking 150 other people with me.

I guess there's depression and depression. The outcomes could be based on the individuals basic personality. Some people are pleasant and some are total wankers.

It's a selfish act at the best of times, but that pilot was beyond that. Suicide! be f***ed , that was revenge on the world. A wanker.

Nayan

Having seen first hand someone on the slide, It can be hard to distinguish between depression, psychosis or other personality disorders.



It takes time to work out whether someone is 'just' depressed or for example a paranoid schizophrenic.



The European regs pick up if a pilot's eyesight is getting worse but it seems they would not be screening for mental health issues. - much less doing anything to distinguish between different types of mental issue. Looking back that looks like an astounding oversight by the regulator

I read (on Twitter to be fair) that this guy was being treated for some eyesight issue.



So maybe he was a Wrong un as it were who, faced with his career aspirations falling apart, 'went postal.'

An Other Half

Ed Milliband sounded like a debutante on that dreadful dating program
"I believe you should choose me (as your prime minister) because I will do" ... "for you"

[Deleted User]

The report of the sailor missing for 66 days now found on top of his up turned hull having survived on rain water and raw fish caught with his bare hands. Finding it a little difficult to believe.

VDOT52

A O H- and using words like debutante makes you seem like you have been reading too much Tat(ler)



To be fair- he would still look like a much better choice than The Tories if he had crocked up and claimed to be a lady. After all, Cameron is claiming that we are all in this together



Miffi- that is an amazing story. Tom hanks will get another Oscar for that one! I am also finding it a little hard to believe- but I'm sure the truth will come out if it is a tall tale.



Happy Easter folks.

Screamapillar

Miffi wrote (see)

The report of the sailor missing for 66 days now found on top of his up turned hull having survived on rain water and raw fish caught with his bare hands. Finding it a little difficult to believe.

Bet he's gone right off sushi...

RicF

The big fat cheeks get me a bit suspicious.

Read the book 'Survive the Savage Sea' by Dougal Robertson. You'll get the idea.