A Dose of Reality

I've never had a fear of flying, in fact, I love it. I love the feeling of getting to a new destination, of watching the in flight movies and of the hum of the engine as you drift off to sleep in a cosy seat in an even cosier cabin. Some people find this concept hard to understand and I've been ridiculed for it however I've never been one of those people clinging to the arm of a chair, sweat dripping from their brow and a look of terror that tends to unnerve everyone else. Even after watching Final Destination and the horrific plane crash scene, I would still be quite comfortable to get on board.

This all changed fro me this morning after reading about a former Qantas Airline pilot. Perhaps it's the reality of the situation that makes it as terrifying as it is. Bryan Griffin has come forward and sued the Airline for not recognizing his mental problems and putting him back to work. The pilot revealed during a compensation hearing how he was afflicted by urges to scream and cry, ignored instructions, and repeatedly missed radio and altitude calls. He also had the extreme urge to crash the jet a few times and had to leave the cabin to calm down.

This type of incident can only be allowed to happen once but it happened over and over and over even after Mr Griffin made his superiors aware of the trauma he was experiencing. Eventually he resigned with severe obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression. Both parties are to blame in this, Mr Griffin should have resigned long before he actually did and the Airline should be keeping tabs on their pilots and their mental well being.

This doesn't look good for Qantas and for good reason. If you can't trust your pilot, who can you trust? One things for sure this wont put a damper on my love for flying but it will certainly make me think twice about who I'm flying with.