Gerhard Fahnenbruck, a pioneering aviation psychologist and founder of the HF Human Factor GmbH, has brought together the worlds of psychology and aviation to enhance the lives and performance of those working in high-risk industries. His career, spanning several decades, highlights the critical role that aviation psychologists and peer support programs play in maintaining safety through supporting mental health. In the long run, this helps organisations boost productivity.
A Unique Career Path
Fahnenbruck learned to fly gliders at the age of 14, but instead of dreaming of flying professionally, he saw it as more of a hobby. He enjoyed and still enjoys flying, but his primary interest has always been in psychology.
Despite his now extensive flying experience as an airline Captain on Airbus A320 family aircraft, Fahnenbruck defines himself not as a pilot but an aviation psychologist—a professional who understands the psychological demands of flying and how working in a high-risk environment can impact someone’s mental health. When he set out on this niche career path in the 1990s, only three professional psychologists worldwide were also qualified as professional pilots. Today, there are several hundred, which is a testament to the growing recognition of this field and his innovative, outstanding and exceptional work in the space.
The Role of Aviation Psychologists
After becoming a psychologist, he worked for the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR), responsible for selecting pilots, astronauts, and deep-sea divers. All three career paths involve challenging, gruelling, and physically demanding experiences that require a particular mindset, making proper screening and selection essential. After he left DLR, he worked in the developing field of Crew Resource Management, where team training is used to optimise performance, primarily to increase safety.
Today, aviation psychologists like Fahnenbruck play a crucial but different role in the aviation industry. In addition to selecting and training pilots, their work involves supporting crews involved in accidents or critical incidents and also supporting pilots in demanding life situations. Fahnenbruck’s innovative approach in the 1990s led to the creation and evolution of peer support programs in aviation in Europe and elsewhere, training pilots and other safety-critical personnel to support their colleagues. This peer-based approach is vital because pilots, in particular, fear that discussing any problem or mental health issue with a psychologist might jeopardise their careers, which depend on having a clear medical record. When a pilot seeks professional psychological and/or psychiatric support, it’s immediately recorded on their medical record, which—even if it’s only for mild versions of any mood disorder such as depression or anxiety—can lead to them being deemed unfit to work. However, by talking to fellow pilots who have been specially trained, they can receive the necessary support without judgment or fear for their careers.
Explaining the motivation for his chosen career path, Fahnenbruck said:
“In the 90s, when I first had the idea of combining being a professional pilot and psychologist, I started asking questions about what we were doing with pilots who had been involved in critical incidents or accidents. At the time, there was a lot of resistance from psychologists as they said it wouldn’t be possible to get pilots to work with pilots because they were non-psychologists and, therefore, not qualified as such. There was also significant resistance from pilots, who argued that they are trained to deal with demanding situations. From my experience as a pilot, I knew the opposite was true. By talking to a psychologist, pilots would have felt like they were risking their career, but they naturally felt able to confide in others from their peer group who understood what was at stake.”
The Benefits of Peer Support Programs
Despite initially meeting with resistance, peer support programs have become mandatory in the European aviation industry. These programs are designed to ensure that pilots remain fit to fly, addressing issues like processing critical flying events, depression, anxiety or substance misuse earlier before these concerns escalate into more severe conditions that could endanger their medical certifications and careers. Fahnenbruck’s work demonstrates that early intervention and peer support can significantly reduce the incidence of mental health issues among pilots and those working in similar safety-critical fields. The success rates of these aviation programs have been proven to be very high. They are now applied in other high-risk areas, such as healthcare, chemical industries, maritime or the energy sector.
Integration of Psychology and Business
Fahnenbruck’s extensive and diverse training in psychology, as a pilot, in IT and business (he has both an IT degree and an MBA) has given him a unique grounding in the business world in a technology-driven environment. His early work in a drug addiction clinic and a psychiatric unit further honed his ability to identify extremes of human behaviour, identify early signs of mental health issues, and how to provide appropriate support.
At HF Human Factor GmbH, the focus is on prevention rather than cure. It’s about leveraging the power of mutual understanding to prevent problems before they become exacerbated. Fahnenbruck emphasises that flying a plane under normal conditions should only occupy about 5% of a pilot’s capacity, with the remaining 95% devoted to managing potentially critical situations. When they’re preoccupied with other problems, their ability to deal with those situations and react to challenges can be dramatically compromised. However, with the appropriate support, pilots can deal with critical incidents or personal issues and continue to work calmly and mindfully, enabling them to stay well-prepared for every eventuality beyond the technicalities of flying.
A key takeaway for corporates from HF Human Factor GmbH’s work in the aviation industry is that businesses do better economically when they take care of their people. Productivity increases, sick leave and staff turnover rates decrease—this is true across virtually any business or industry.
The Process
The HF Human Factor GmbH approach begins with assessing the specific risk and potential problems personnel are facing in the business at hand.
In the airline industry, for example, so-called critical incidents include onboard fires, engine failures, death on board a plane, and severe weather conditions. In the 1990s, Fahnenbruck started by focusing on such critical events and training peers to support individuals dealing with such situations. Feedback indicated that 99% of those involved in these kinds of events did not require further assistance after initial support from a peer, highlighting the importance of simply making these resources known and available.
Gradually, pilots started coming forward with all kinds of well-being issues, whether domestic, financial or legal problem, training or medical issues. At that time, peers had already been trained to work with these topics under the supervision of a psychologist. In 80% of all cases, talking to such a trained peer is sufficient to help a colleague get out of his or her challenging situation.
For those pilots requiring additional guidance, a network of specialists, including lawyers, doctors, and financial experts, are available and can provide more targeted and specialised support.
To make a program work in other environments, it’s essential to understand the specific industry and the needs of its personnel so that peers can be trained accordingly. As an example: If no critical incidents are expected, it doesn’t make sense to train peers to deal with trauma.
To make a program work, it is essential to inform the personnel that peers are available and that the support is confidential. Any breach of that confidentiality destroys trust in the program and any further attempt to set up such a program in the foreseeable future.
Finding the Perfect Match
The program’s success relies on matching people with a peer they feel they can talk to and emphasising that every conversation is confidential. They are matched according to their job roles, gender, and mother tongue to promote mutual understanding, which makes people more likely to open up. The HF Human Factor GmbH is entirely independent and operates outside of unions and companies, which is integral to participants feeling safe and supported.
The Results
Feedback from HF Human Factor GmbH’s programs has been overwhelmingly positive.
Fahnenbruck: “At first, companies felt they didn’t need it, but we asked big corporations to look at their numbers and conduct a study to compare people being taken care of with people not being taken care of in similar situations. The results are very convincing. It’s so obvious when you see the increase in health, productivity, and overall well-being that establishing a peer support programme is worthwhile. Our work changes lives and helps businesses grow at the same time, and that’s the whole reason why we do it,” he explained.
Adapting to Changing Needs
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the emphasis of peer support in aviation again from critical incidents to overall well-being. Prior to COVID-19, the aviation program dealt with about 80% critical incidents and 20% well-being cases. Now, it’s 30% critical incidents and 70% well-being. The current program caters for that and offers peers trained in a broader range of issues, such as family problems, financial issues, and health concerns. This adaptability has reinforced the value of peer support in maintaining the mental health of aviation professionals during those unprecedented times.
Key Takeaways
Fahnenbruck’s work underscores the importance and value of implementing peer support programs across various industries. These programs are most effective when they focus on and prioritise the affected individual’s perspective while ensuring confidentiality. Depending on the circumstances, their proven Return On Investment lies between 5:1 and 10:1.
Key Ingredients of a Successful Peer Support Program
Fahnenbruck says the success of any peer support program relies on ensuring it’s correctly set up from the outset and that all work is person-centred: “The key to successful peer support is that the centre of the universe is always the affected person—so try to think how they think. Understand their mindset, feel like they feel, see through their eyes, and hear through their ears. When your peers know how the affected person ticks, the solutions to their problems often emerge naturally.”
To find out more about HF Human Factor GmbH’s work, visit HF Human Factor GmbH.
