Author’s Note

Growing up around aviation, I pushed to someday become a pilot as well. Obviously, as a child and a dreamer, you don’t look at the nuances of achieving your dream. You just go for it. When my friend told me to be careful of what I told the doctor, that was the first time I had to look at this issue, this stigma, of mental health in aviation head-on.

I didn’t think much about it at the time, but as the months went on, memories started flooding back to me. Like hearing about pilots smelling of alcohol daily, but still having their medical approved. Chief pilots having interventions, but still swearing to secrecy. Multiple pilots telling me they had to take the controls of an aircraft when their co-pilot or captain said, “you have to take control. I don’t know what I’m going to do,” motioning to the fact they were thinking of spiralling the airplane to the ground. Then the pilot taking control of the plane, and encapsulating that moment into a secret forever. 

Once I started researching this topic, I had many different reactions from my pilot friends and my sources. Most of them were positive, “This isn’t talked about at all. Thank you for taking it on.” “I think this topic is so important to bring to light.” But there were also negative ones like, “I’ll tell you right now, no one is going to talk to you about this. They can’t.” 

I know after finishing my piece, readers are going to have mixed emotions. There will be sympathy for the pilots, there may be anger, but there will also be a fear in the back of their minds. I want to take this time to remind you of the lengthy training pilots go through to ensure their passengers, and themselves, remain safe. Please do not fear flying as a result of this article. Instead, give pilots space to talk about their mental health and listen to their stories.

Thank you to my pilot sources for trusting me with their stories.

Thank you to Randy Boswell, my advisor who worked with me through edits to make this piece the best it could be. 

Thank you to Roger Martin, for helping set up this site.

And thank you for reading.

-Sam Campling, May 2021.