What happens when the privacy protection of health records for a pilot might be the only thing standing between a passenger and their safe flight home? This became a topic of concern after a Germanwings passenger jet was deliberately flown in to a mountainside.

After the Germanwings flight was found, it was determined that Pilot Lubitz deliberately accelerated the jet into a mountainside, killing himself along with 144 passengers and 6 crew members. The flight’s black box revealed that co-pilot Lubitz locked his senior pilot out of the cockpit and took control of the plane. It was only after further investigation authorities found that Lubitz’s certificate carried special instructions pertaining to his struggle with depression and medications to treat it. One German tabloid, Bild, even reported that records showed Lubitz claimed to be going through a recent personal crisis after having broken up with his girlfriend. Lubitz had been receiving treatment for his depression for a year and a half.

This terrible tragedy brings the concern of medical documents and the privacy controls on medical documents into the light for some serious discussion. Lubitz’s online searches revealed he was considering killing himself and also researching medications to treat his depression. Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, it is safe to determine Lubitz decided to kill himself but he took the lives of everyone on board with him. Had his medical records been supervised or discussed Lubitz may have been asked to step down as a pilot, possibly preventing this tragic accident – leaving everyone with the same question, when is disregarding the medical privacy policy a necessity?