Airline Knew About Co-Pilot's Depression
PEREIRA: Welcome back. Officials deny reports this morning that cell phone video has been recovered capturing those final moments on board Flight 9525 before it crashed in the French Alps. As Lufthansa now acknowledges that the co-pilot who downed the plane reportedly suffered severe depressive episode back in 2009, he disclosed that to the company. With us this morning, Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and David Soucie, CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector. Good morning to you both. I want to start with playing that clip from the CEO of Lufthansa. Take a listen.</s>CARSTEN SPOHR, LUFTHANSA CEO: The pilot has passed all of these tests, all his medical exams, we have at Lufthansa, a reporting system where crew can report without being punished, their own problems or they can report problems of others without any kind of punishment. That hasn't been used either in this case.</s>PEREIRA: Well, that's a change now, Mary, because we do know that the pilot did indeed suffer from a severe depressive episode. He was not 100% fit to fly. What does that about-face say to you? And is it odd to think that at this stage in the game, a company of this size would take them as long to dig through their medical records?</s>MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I think what it says is actually that. They have gone back and after the investigators and after a crash, the investigators swoop in, and they pretty much take all the documents and they have a right to and they should and this has come to light that they, he reported it. For them to say well he reported it and we want reporting without repercussions, that's utter nonsense, we've reached the day and age in mental illness treatment that it's like other treatments and you have to report what drugs you're taking, there has to be a period of assessment at least six-month period where it's assessed if you can tolerate the drugs. The airline has the responsibility to report on that and to check on that through their medical office, at least every three months. For them to say it's reporting and there's no repercussion, it's utter nonsense. And if they didn't follow up and admit the guy was not fit to fly, it's pretty clear.</s>PEREIRA: David, is it reasonable and manageable to have a standard set for mental health in this industry? I mean, this is a global industry. I can imagine how unwieldy that would be.</s>DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, there is a standard and that standard is set by the person himself and that's the problem. The person is left to determine am I fit or am I not? Well, honestly they may not be qualified to assess themselves in that way especially if the mental illness influences that that decision to report that. So yes, we need to move forward with something better than what we have right now.</s>PEREIRA: Let's talk about the video, the cell phone video, the clip that was found apparently seen by German tabloid. If this video exists, Mary, in your estimation, is it helpful to investigators or is it more hurtful to the families?</s>SCHIAVO: Well, it's both. But you know, it's interesting about families, it's interesting to the investigation. This is a crime scene. This is a murder scene. They need every piece of evidence they can get. Families, we had a situation like in in the United Airlines Flight 93, from 2001, they had a cockpit voice recorder. The families' voices were on it because if you recall they battered down the door, the passengers did, with a cart to get in the cockpit and the families wanted to hear it because it was their last chance to be with and empathize and know what their loved ones went through. I would imagine that some family members will opt to see this. Some will not.</s>PEREIRA: That's a powerful thing to imagine. David, it's interesting because you know, French prosecutors saying that they want to have every piece of video, if it exists, they want to see it. They're trying to compel whoever has the video to come forward. What does it say about the investigation, Mary mentions it's a crime scene, what does it say about the investigation that something like this would be leaked?</s>SOUCIE: It's just preposterous that someone would let this get out and the investigation team. There's a trust, it's built together in this trust. So it's just, it lacks professionalism. The problem is if the chain of custody was broken on that particular piece of evidence what about the rest of the evidence? This is where we get into trying to prove something. The chain of custody in an accident investigation is paramount. It has to be done properly and documented where everything went and who touched it and where it came from. The fact that this leaked is going to put a lot of question on a lot of answers that we think we have down the road.</s>PEREIRA: David and Mary, I have to leave it there. Thank you so much as always. We appreciate it -- Chris, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela, well, the man who founded Bikram or Hot Yoga as it's called is now in the hot seat himself over sexual assault allegations. Bikram Choudhury spoke exclusively to CNN about those accusations.</s>BIKRAM CHOUDHURY: And this is the reward? I'm a rapist? Shame of your culture, western culture.