Federal authorities have been investigating about 5,000 pilots suspected of falsifying their medical records to conceal conditions that could make them unfit to fly.
I think a big part of it, at least in the states, is how inextricable the career is from the person, because of how dependent our employers make us on them for everything from basic needs to healthcare to a retirement plan. Imagine, that every time you reported a minor issue with the aircraft, you would risk not just your ability to fly ever again, but also your ability to work off the mountain of debt that you accrued learning how to fly a plane, and that if you lost your job your best case scenario would be crushing poverty for the rest of your life?
Of course you’d never say a damn thing - even if it meant a high risk of killing yourself and everyone on board the plane. When your choice is die slowly or die quickly, I know which one I’d take. So is it any surprise that people don’t speak up about it?
I think a big part of it, at least in the states, is how inextricable the career is from the person, because of how dependent our employers make us on them for everything from basic needs to healthcare to a retirement plan. Imagine, that every time you reported a minor issue with the aircraft, you would risk not just your ability to fly ever again, but also your ability to work off the mountain of debt that you accrued learning how to fly a plane, and that if you lost your job your best case scenario would be crushing poverty for the rest of your life?
Of course you’d never say a damn thing - even if it meant a high risk of killing yourself and everyone on board the plane. When your choice is die slowly or die quickly, I know which one I’d take. So is it any surprise that people don’t speak up about it?