Canadian pilots not required to undergo psychological testing

As new details emerge about the mental state of the co-pilot who investigators say purposely crashed a Germanwings plane on Tuesday, it’s come to light that Canadian aviation regulations do not require pilots to be tested psychologically.

Aviation Dr. Trevor Gillmore tells CityNews it’s only mandatory for pilots to undergo yearly physical exams, and the onus is on the pilot to declare a mental health condition.

“There’s no mandatory psychological evaluation for a pilot in Canada,” Gillmore said. “There’s not a psychological evaluation, specifically, but there’s a questionnaire filled out about problems in which they declare whether they’ve had psychological problems (or are) taking any medications since their last re-licencing examination.

“Technically, an applicant could not declare something, absolutely.”

In a report obtained by CityNews from Transport Canada, it’s noted that the prevalence of depression among aircrew is six per cent and could be higher because pilots may cover up their condition and “suffer in silence.”

Under the Aeronautics Act, doctors are required to report any medical condition that would impact flight safety. But according to these documents there is concern a pilot might forego treatment, or lie to their family doctor about their job or try to self medicate using herbal treatments.

Former Transportation Safety Board Investigator Bryce Fisher says the current system could be better.

“The current instruments that are used to try to gauge mental health or mental illness…are not great predictors of future behaviours,” Fisher said.

“This (Germanwings) incident will probably lead to a bigger, broader dialogue…about the topic of mental health of flight crews or aviators.”

CityNews did reach out to Canadian airlines, and Air Canada said they only do one behavioural assessment during the hiring process and then they rely on the Transport Canada examination to monitor a pilot’s psychological health.