Flying stress unlikely in Germanwings crash, Sask pilot

“Very likely, someone that doesn’t have that confidence, it’s probably because their skill set is such that they’re a little bit under confident, and they’re probably not going to achieve that level in aviation where they’re even in that kind of job in the first place,” Lawless said, adding it is possible the co-pilot may not have been promoted due to lack of confidence. He believes, however, that stress would have shown up in Lubitz’s performance records.

“Most pilots take great pleasure and experience a great sense of passion from their art of flying and it’s not something that degrades them or will lead to mental illness,” he said.

What authorities should look at instead, according to Lawless, is whether Lubitz had any stress in his life outside work.

Despite airline insurance policies, which give pilots months or sometimes years to deal with health issues, Lawless said if flying gives a pilot pleasure, love or joy, they may be reluctant to admit outside stresses because the fear being grounded.

Authorities are trying to understand what made Lubitz allegedly lock his fellow pilot out of the cockpit and ignore his pleas to open the door before slamming the plane into a mountain on what should have been a routine flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.

French officials refused to confirm or deny a partial transcript that German newspaper Bild am Sontag said it had obtained of the cockpit recording. The paper reported Sunday the pilot left for the toilet shortly before 10:30 a.m. and was heard trying unsuccessfully to get into the cockpit again a few minutes later, then shouting “for God’s sake open the door.

After several more minutes in which the pilot could be heard trying to break open the door, the plane crashed into the mountainside, according to Bild am Sonntag, which didn’t say how it obtained the report.

None of the bodies recovered so far have been identified, and authorities have denied German media reports that Lubitz’s body had been found.

Tests on the body of the co-pilot may provide clues on any medical treatment he was receiving.

With files from News Talk’s Francois Biber, the Associated Press and the Canadian Press

by Lasia Kretzel

Flying stress unlikely in Germanwings crash, Sask pilot

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