Pilot 'felt urge' to crash jet

Qantas has been ordered to pay out today for keeping a pilot on their roster who was mentally unfit to fly an airplane.

A mentally disturbed Qantas pilot was allowed to continue flying passenger jets for nearly three years despite repeatedly complaining of his urges to crash the planes he was flying, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

Bryan Arthur Griffin was a pilot with Qantas until 1982 when he resigned with severe obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression.

Evidence showed that several times between 1979 and 1982 he struggled to resist an overwhelming urge to switch off his plane's engines.

The Workers Compensation Commission heard that while running through an emergency procedure on a flight to Singapore, Mr Griffin's hand "involuntarily moved towards the start levers". He was forced to "immobilise his left arm in order not to act on the compulsion".

"He left the flight deck and, once he felt calm enough, returned to his seat."

In several more incidents on file, the pilot flauted routine in-flight procedures and continued to discuss the possibility of crashing the plane.

The commission found Mr Griffin's condition had been exacerbated by continuing to work for Qantas, who should have acted sooner, the SMH report said.

The airline was ordered to pay compensation for loss of earnings, medical expenses and legal costs.