I find it interesting but disappointing that while the “black box” helped us to understand that the co-pilot of the ill-fated German airliner apparently deliberately crashed the airliner, killing all of the passengers onboard, it makes one wonder how, after a doctor, presumably hired by the airline, found this co-pilot “unfit to fly,” the airline wasn’t notified of the results, or worse, that the airline was notified by the doctor but took no action.
Almost routinely in the United States, when drivers are vision tested before receiving a driver’s license and fail the vision test, their driving privileges are suspended. Moreover, in Illinois where I hail from, if you present what doctors refer to as unsafe vision or are found legally blind, the doctor may confiscate your license immediately and send it back to the DMV.
It seems reasonable that similar standards may have averted this tragedy. It challenges credulity that investigators found evidence in the co-pilot’s apartment of a torn-up doctors’ report, but doesn’t mention notification by the doctor to the airline.
Richard Nielsen, Royal Palm Beach
