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Cody Snyder
28 April 2015
Mr. Phillips
Honors English III
Security Check on the Flight Deck
Most people do not think twice when it comes to climbing aboard a giant metal
contraption flying 50,000 feet above the ground. Over eight million people travel by air every
day, so people have grown to trust the technology and policies in place. The everyday heroes
who pilot these airplanes are ultimately responsible for each individual life. When tragedy strikes
and a plane crashes, thousands of lives can be lost, the loss of the families is immeasurable. On
March 24, Western Europe endured a massive catastrophe when Germanwings Airbus 320 was
flown into the French Apls by the planes copilot. Andreas Lubitz, 27, struggled with ongoing
metal sickness problems (Pancevski). The impact of this disaster will increase regulations among
pilots and air transport dramatically in Germany, as well as Western Europe as a whole.
Recent plane crashes have caused a malestrom of sadness and anger among the friends
and family of those involved in the tragedies. Over 100 people were killed in a plane crash
aboard flight 737 in Indonesia, as the pilot had been reported of showing extremely
unorthodoxed practices (Kulish). Similarly, Egypt Air flight 767 killed 217 people in 1999, the
copilot diverted the plane into a steep dive where is crashed into the earth (Kulish, Nicholas).
Both of these horrific situations could and should have been prevented. Improper medical
records, lack of data sharing, and inadequate screening of pilots were all factors that enabled
these catastrophes to happen. As Murphy's Law states, "If anything can go wrong, it will," bad

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things will happen, that is inevitable, but that is absolutely no excuse for not incorporating
preventative regulations and security measurements.
If an increase in security and regulations could prevent and stop even half of the incidents
dealt with today, that would be a massive step forward in the name of safety. The most recent
plane crash is one that is an eye opening testimony to the faults and failures of today's systems. It
was April 20, when the plane's copilot locks the other pilot out while flying over the French Alps
and proceeds to alter the planes' course into a downward dive around 10:40am ("Name of the
Game"). Upon its increasingly rapid descent it attracted the attention of three French fighter
bomber, they attempted to escort the doomed air plane to safety, to no avail the aircraft
plummeted towards earth at 700km per hour (Name of the Game). The Central Aviation tower
attempted to get into contact with the plane as it was set on a crash course from 38,000 feet up in
the air (Name of the Game). All electronics were disrupted during the suicidal descent so there
was no contact with Lubitz as the aircraft sped towards its certain doom (Name of the Game).
The collected evidence points to a suicidal man determined to end his life. Even though valid
attempts were made to coerce him to relieve control to the other pilot, the aircraft tumbled into
the Alps when it exploded into a firey inferno taking 150 innocent lives with it. The truth would
be uncovered and another situation like this would be avoided in the future.
The crash site was completely destroyed, and while evidence was limited around the site,
Lubitz's home was sure to filled with evidence. Local Police as well and Investigators began to
dive into his residency, personal belongings, and his medical records. Investigators searched
Lubitz's residence and uncovered his search history which included cockpit security procedures,
suicide forums, as well as specifics on other recent plane crashes (Kulish). Records revealed that
Andreas Lubitz had many ongoing problems with mental sickness and problems with extreme

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depression (Pancevski). Regardless of these ongoing problems with his medical health he was
cleared to fly and no further look into Lubitz's records was completed (Pancevski). This reveals
further problems in that pilot screening and data viewing may not be sufficient enough to keep
passengers safe.
Upon the following of this tragedy the German government was urged to comply with the
European Safety rules, forcing the airliners to share the medical data of the pilots with pilot
license distributors (Pancevski). The fact that Germanwings did not share this information prior
to Lubitz's career as a pilot was a violation of Europe's Aviation safety rules (Pancevski). The
current protection policy on pilots data is extremely strict, various aviation doctors as well as
private psychiatric knew about the dangerous and unstable condition of the pilot, but because
Germans policies could not tell the Aviation Authorities (Pancevski). The strict privacy
regulations are a direct result of German's past, it being under totalitarian rule in WW2, where its
government has always been stricter that most other countries in the world (Pancevski). The
events that unfolded must resound in the Germanwings company and that of others as they must
amend and fix current regulations in place which are meant to help but in most situations will
cause conflict.
Incorporating more regulations, rules, and policies may seem like a hassle, but they are
going to keep people safe. Though more regulations may make it tougher to get a commercial
pilots license, those who have them would be completely dependable and among the elite in
knowledge and skill. After all when it comes to saving lives there is no more important goal.
Questions and comments about unmanned pilots and drones have been brought up in the new
and among civilians, but is that a valid alternative? What immediate action is being done to
combat the current possibilities of future catastrophes?

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The United States has taken immediate action in increasing security measures. United
States commercial pilots are required to submit a complete mental and physical test twice every
year when the pilot turns 40 (Park). Pilots are also required to release all medical and mental
health problems by the Federal Aviation Administration (Park). Thankfully the European Union
has recognized that reform is necessary and released a statement that said "Data protection
cannot be paramount in a situation when hundreds of lives could be at risk because of a condition
of a pilot that has not been [notified] to the regulator" (Pancevski). New rules are being
implemented such as the 2-man cockpit rule where two men must be in the cockpit at all times
(CAAP). All additional rules are completely necessary and should help to serve and protect
people. Optimistic thinkers believe that the Aviation Industry can completely get rid of human
error all together.
The answer to the question is no, or at least not right now, although drones eliminate
possible human casualty, the technology is not where its needs to be right now (Smith). Since
the year 2001, over 400 large drones flown by the United States military have crashed during
operation exemplifying that they are not ready to be used in the civilian world (Smith). The idea
that pilots are in the cockpit merely for backup purposes is completely absurd, planes equipped
with advanced technology just assists the pilot in his job (Smith). The implemented technological
advances improve safety and overall experience for the passengers and crew (Smith). Pilots are
irreplaceable as weather conditions can in a matter of seconds, a crew must be able to change
altitude, velocity, and course alterations (Smith). In these events the pilots and crew must also be
in constant communication with Air Traffic Control (Smith). Knowledge is power, and what has
been learned from this event is that a total awareness must be imperative among all factors where
lives are at risk.

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Because this cataclysm was such a travesty, it is apparent that a major security reform is
needed to protect civilians from other ordeals from happening again. Such reforms should be
made to protect the cockpit from inside as well as outside threats (Rodante). World renowned
pilot and aviation consultant, Mr. Scott, Says We no longer feel 100 percent comfortable in the
person sitting beside us in the cockpit.That is an awful feeling. This expresses the real life
views of a pilot devoted to his job to serve and protect and his worries as this world we live in
becomes more uncertain every minute. The foremost steps in securing innocent lives include,
taking rapid action in passing laws, increasing regulations, and keeping a closer watch over all
personnel responsible for the safety of others.

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Works Cited
"EU tells Germany its privacy rules protected suicide pilot." Sunday Times [London, England]
12 Apr. 2015: 29. Global Issues in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
"CAAP imposes 2-man cockpit rule for planes." Philippines Daily Inquirer [Makati City,
Philippines] 6 Apr. 2015. Global Issues in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Kulish, Nicholas, and Nicola Clark. "Warning Signs in the Mind of a Pilot Determined to Die."
New York Times 19 Apr. 2015: A1(L). Global Issues in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
"Name of the game." Assam Tribune [Guwahati, India] 20 Apr. 2015. Global Issues in Context.
Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Park, Alice. "Depression in the Flight Deck." Time 13 Apr. 2015. Global Issues in Context. Web.
13 Apr. 2015.
Smith, Patrick. "Why pilots still matter." International New York Times 11 Apr. 2015. Global
Issues in Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

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