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OPINION
Mental health

Scrutinize pilot readiness: #tellusatoday

USA TODAY

Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings flight into the French Alps, had been treated for suicidal tendencies, prosecutors said Monday. Comments from Twitter and Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Increased mental screening of pilots may make fliers feel safer, but no one can predict what a person will be thinking.

— @JeffOstach

The real outrage here is that something so important to people's lives should be protected by privacy laws. Some people have a great deal of responsibility, and their mental health should not be subject to the same privacy restrictions as an average citizen.

David MacGillis

It sounds as if airlines might want to rethink the standard they're using to show a pilot is not a danger to others.

@NoChromeHD

The unfortunate part beyond the deaths is now some people are going to think that individuals who have depression are mass killers. Most just worry about their own fate. This pilot must have been more than a depressed person.

L.a. Kelly

For pilots, getting mental health treatment can be a career-ending move. Removing that stigma would be more effective in encouraging them to seek help than subjecting them to additional (ineffective) questioning during an annual medical exam.

Joseph Woodruff

Mental health is a big issue that is underreported, underdiagnosed and undersupport- ed.

Daniel Dinnell

Life is imperfect and unpredictable. There is no way to avert or predict every tragedy. Hindsight is 20/20.

Steve Evets

Letters to the editor:

What a bizarre tragedy to learn the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, Andreas Lubitz, reportedly had been treated for a psychological or psychiatric condition ("Mystery deepens over co-pilot who crashed jet").

He might have hid at least one episode in 2009, interrupting his flight training, which is even more tragic. We need more rigorous mental health testing of pilots.

In addition, it is extremely important for spouses, other family members or close friends to step up to help.

Although that is not so easy, it can definitely affect outcomes.

Russ W. Bill; Fountain Valley, Calif.

We, the flying public, need to make pilots more accountable. We should not rely on pilots' self-reporting an illness. Why? Who, in any career, is going to step up to the plate and report he is suffering from a mental illness and hope to get his job back after treatment?

After takeoff, we are in the hands of two pilots, two strangers, who hold the power to change our lives until landing. This is the supreme test of trust in the unknown.

Cecile Whitney; Newport Beach, Calif.

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday on Twitter.

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