For reasons which become apparent as the conversation unfolds, our guest is introduced as just “Alex”. Together with this experienced Boeing 737 pilot, we address a very important issue: mental health in aviation and the stigma surrounding it. If you like our content, please subscribe to our premium episodes.

Are our pilots and air traffic controllers, the people we entrust with our lives, able to get the healthcare they might need without fear of being let go by the airlines?

Our guest shares a very personal tragedy he experienced and how he coped with the loss of his beloved newborn son. Alex also explains that he’s one of the lucky pilots who received full support from his airline. Together we discuss mental health, what the reality of suffering from depression or anxiety translates into in the aviation community and what can be done to make things better for everyone involved.

We also discuss the China Eastern Airlines MU-5735 crash. Together we look at potential causes for this tragic incident as and we compare the China plane crash to similar plane crashes based on the information revealed so far by the investigators. ^{1, 2}