Horizon Air cockpit scare revives pilot mental health concerns

An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot’s alleged midair sabotage attempt of a Horizon Air flight from Seattle to San Francisco on Sunday — and the pilot’s later admission that he had been depressed — highlights the major concerns that pilot mental health poses to the airline industry. It was an issue that came to international attention when a Germanwings copilot in 2015 locked the captain out of the cockpit midflight and deliberately dove their Airbus into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard. At that time, the FAA reviewed and revised its mental health policies for flight crews. But experts sa...