DGCA committee recommends psychometric tests for pilots in four stages: Sources

In the backdrop of the GermanWings incident where Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of the flight deliberately crashed the plane in the French Alps earlier in 2015 killing 150 people on board, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is likely to have submitted a report on the need for psychometric test for pilots.

After an approval from the DGCA, an expert committee will be formed to decide what should be the tests that are conducted and their quantum.

According to sources, the report by the committee suggests that a pilot should undergo tests at four stages in his career. These stages are likely to be when before pilot joins a Flight Training Organisation as a trainee, at the time of joining an airline, when he becomes a Commander and also in case an occurrence or an aberration is noticed.

According to flight deck procedures, India follows the guidelines of US Aviation regulator and had already announced a "cockpit policy" in 2010 under which if one of the crew members had to leave the cockpit during the non-critical phases of flight, the cabin crew is required to be inside the cockpit and occupy the observer seat.

Civil aviation authorities have reiterated that in case one pilot leaves the flight deck, cabin crew shall be in the flight deck and will occupy one of the observer seats. The cabin crew in the flight deck will remain vigilant in case of subtle incapacitation of the flight deck crew or any other situation that requires assistance.

Reports had said that 27-year-old Lubitz was suffering from depression but had hidden this from the airline which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma had said that psychometric tests should be carried out on pilots in India from time to time.

The crash of the Germanwings Flight 9525 has raised questions whether airlines all over the world are doing enough to detect pilots who are mentally unfit to fly. European investigators are focusing on the psychological state of Lubitz who is believed to have locked his Captain out after the senior officer left the flight deck.