Earlier this semester, we discussed incidents
and accidents that have been caused or associated with pilots and depression or
other mental illnesses. We previously looked at the Germanwings Flight 4U9525
accident and how this brought attention to the mental health of pilots and how
they have been screened for mental illnesses. As a result of the Germanwings
flight in 2015, the Aerospace Medical Association created a group to examine
the mental health of pilots. The group concluded there needed to be “greater attention
given to mental health issues by aeromedical examiners, especially to the
more common and detectable mental health conditions and life
stressors that can affect pilots and flight performance. They encouraged
this through increased education and global recognition of the
importance of mental health in aviation safety” (Costa, 1996) .
When it
comes to medicals, air traffic controllers need a second class medical, although,
“this category of air traffic controller does not include FAA
employee air traffic control specialists” (FAA, 2016) . On the other hand,
airline pilots need a first class medical certificate. As a job that is
considered to be one of the most stressful jobs, it seems like they should hold
a first class medical certificate and should be held to high standards when it
comes to being mentally and physically healthy. To understand just how
stressful this job can be, there has been research done on the complexity of
the job.
To have an idea of its complexity, it is sufficient to
mention that, according to a job analysis of en-route controllers carried out
by a group of American researchers, six main activities can be identified (i.e.
situation monitoring, resolving aircraft conflicts, managing air traffic
sequences, routing or planning flights, assessing weather impact, managing
sector/position resources), which include 46 sub-activities and 348 distinct
tasks. (Costa, 1996)
This is a lot
of tasks for one person to be able to handle. This kind of complexity also
depends on the amount of aircraft that ATC is dealing with and if there are any
problems that are occurring with any of the aircraft or with operational
problems on the ground. For different situations, there are different rules and
regulations that apply, so the ATC that is working has to be able to switch to
the appropriate regulations and quickly apply them when making decisions. They
must be able to keep the rules and regulations organized in their minds and be
able to switch between the rules and regulations whenever it is required.
When it comes to their job, air traffic
controllers experience a lot of stress due to the complexity of their work. This
stress is caused by different areas of the job, but are mainly caused by the
operations that come with the job and the structures of their organization. “The most important factors are peaks of
traffic load, time pressure, resolving conflicts in the application of rules,
and the limitations and reliability of equipment. The factors relating to
organizational structure mainly concern shift schedules (and particularly night
work), role conflicts, unfavorable working conditions and the lack of control
over work” (Stress Prevention in
Air Traffic Control, n.d.). There are a lot of operational and organizational
concerns that can cause stress to these individuals. It is up to them how they
cope with the stress, but some may handle the stress better than others.
Another factor that really causes stress
to the controllers is the thought about the possible catastrophic results if they
were to make a mistake. “Air traffic controllers are also
among the groups of workers who are most exposed to critical accidents which
cause unusually strong emotional reactions, such as air accidents with loss of
life or serious injury, near collisions or loss of control due to overload” (Stress
Prevention in Air Traffic Control, n.d.). If they make a mistake, not only are
they living with the consequences, but they are also getting in trouble with their
employer, are most likely being investigated by the FAA and might have to hear
about all the families that have been affected if their mistake led to an
accident that had fatalities. This can put a lot of pressure on people to avoid
these situations from happening. It could possibly cause a lot of mental
problems to some if their mistake led to a catastrophic accident.
When it comes to the amount of stress that
comes with the job, those that pursue this job as a career need to be very
careful of the affects that it can have one themselves. With this job comes a
lot of responsibilities that includes having thousands of lives in their hands
each day with majority of what happens due to the decisions that the controller
makes. “Air traffic controllers require high levels of knowledge and expertise,
combined with high levels of responsibility, not only with regard to risking
lives, but also the high economic costs of aeronautical activities” (Stress Prevention
in Air Traffic Control, n.d.). Aviation accidents are not cheap especially when
it includes a large aircraft that is carrying passengers. This can cost
companies a lot of money because they may have to deal with the legal responsibilities
that come with accident especially if there are fatalities. Additionally, they
have to clean the accident up and figure out a way to get another aircraft in
service since they lost one. Companies do not want to lose out on money due to
an aircraft being out of service. This will cost them a lot of money on top of
the money they are losing due to the accident.
Another problem that was mentioned earlier
is the problem that deals with shift scheduling. Pilots are not the only ones
who are dealing with problems with shift scheduling. Pilots have had new
regulations passed to help with the amount of rest hours required. The problem
that comes with this is the pilot shortage. Pilots are not the only ones that
are experiencing a shortage. There has been a huge decline in the number of air
traffic controllers in the system. Because of this, people are working harder
and longer trying to keep the skies safe so people can travel and make it to
their destinations safely. “Controller staffing has fallen nearly 10 percent
since 2011, and the FAA has missed its hiring goals in each of the last five
years. With one third of our workforce eligible to retire, the FAA’s
bureaucratic structure is failing. In fiscal year 2015, the FAA fell 24 percent
below its staffing goals. If this situation continues unaddressed, we will be
hard-pressed to maintain current capacity, let alone expand and modernize the
system” (NATCA, 2015) . There are not
enough people becoming controllers to cover the amount of controllers that are
leaving. This leaves a lot of stress on those who are not retiring, their
employers, and the FAA to recruit people to pursue this as a career.
Part of the increase in stress is due to
the increase in operations at airports and the increase in how many aircraft are
landing and taking off at airports. “As the number of aircraft and demands on
air-traffic control services has increased over the decades, so has the number
of accidents, incidents, and runway incursions (loss of safe separation among
aircraft and other ground vehicles). As with most aviation accidents today,
many of these occurrences have not been due to faulty control equipment, but
rather to human error, including mistakes made by air traffic controllers (Federal
Aviation Administration, 2000)” (Pape, Wiegmann, & Shappell, n.d.). The
increase in air traffic can lead to more stress which can in turn lead to more
human errors. Human errors are something that will always occur because humans
are not perfect and they have to make quick, on the spot decisions. This means
that training and oversight is very important to help make sure that things are
running smoothly.
The placement of a lot of responsibility
on individuals can cause them a lot of stress. Although, every individual handles
stress in different ways, but some may not be able to handle as much as others.
High amounts of stress and the hard work that comes with being an air traffic
controller can affect their health. “A number of studies indicate that the
demanding work of air traffic controllers may well be a risk factor in the long
term in the development of stress-related symptoms, including headaches,
chronic fatigue, heartburn, indigestion and chest pain, as well as such serious
illnesses as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, peptic ulcers and
psychoneurotic disorders” (Stress Prevention in Air Traffic Control, n.d.). It
is very important that controllers take care of themselves to make sure they
remain healthy. “Pilots
and controllers remain some of the most difficult groups to persuade to seek
mental health assistance, even when they can barely function. Another major obstacle is fear
of having to report any counseling or treatment to the FAA and permanently
losing their medical certificate and perhaps their career” (AMAS, 2016) .
This shouldn’t always be the case because some people really need to get
medical attention because they are overdoing it and causing harm to their bodies.
The problem is that pilots and controllers feel they cannot get it because it
will cause them to lose their medical certificate or have to take days off of
work or even that it will be made out to be a bigger problem that it really is.
This discourages individuals from seeking the help they really need because they
feel like they will have some kind of punishment for seeking the appropriate
help.
It is
important that there are measures being taken to reduce and relieve the stress
for the controllers. Some of the improvements have come in the work environment
and the organizational structure to help make things easier. Areas that have
been improved are “the external socio-economic environment, technology
and work organization, the workplace and the structure of tasks, the
improvement of individual responses and behavior, and the health protection and
promotion” (Stress Prevention in Air Traffic Control, n.d.). Another really
important factor that has been included to help cope with stress is the social
support. “Social support is a crucial point in stress management. According to
the Karasek and Johnson model, this is one of the three factors that concur in
determining stress conditions” (Costa, 1996) . I think that
controllers along with pilots need to get educated and trained on stress management
because of the high workload and demands of the job. It is important that they
are all in good mental, physical, and psychological health. Their decisions can
affect hundreds of people and they do not always have a long amount of time to
make decisions.
References
AMAS. (2016). Counseling, Depression and
Psychological Support. Retrieved from Aviation Medicine Advisory Service
:
https://www.aviationmedicine.com/article/counseling-depression-and-psychological-support/
Costa, G.
(1996). Occupational Stress and Stress Prevention in Air Traffic Control.
Retrieved from International Labour Organization :
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_protect/@protrav/@safework/documents/publication/wcms_250120.pdf
FAA. (2016, March
24). Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners. Retrieved from Federal
Aviation Administration:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/general/classes/
Federal Aviation
Administration (2000). National summit on runway safety, Washington DC.
NATCA. (2015). Controller
Staffing Down 10 Percent, Hiring Lags. Retrieved from National Air
Traffic Controllers Association: http://www.natca.org/
Pape, A. M.,
Wiegmann, D. A., & Shappell, S. (n.d.). Air Traffic Control (ATC)
Related Accidents and Incidents: A Human Factors Analysis. Retrieved from
FAA.gov: http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/maintenance_hf/library/documents/media/human_factors_maintenance/air_traffic_control_(atc)_related_accidents_and_incidents.a_human_factors_analysis.pdf
Scarpa, J. P. (n.d.). Pilot
Mental Health. Retrieved
January 24, 2016, from Aerospace Medical
Association:
http://www.asma.org/publications/pilot-mental-health
Stress
Prevention in Air Traffic Control. (n.d.).
Retrieved from International Labour Organization:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---safework/documents/publication/wcms_118241.pdf
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