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CREW for Aviation

Safe Skies

Mental health training for the whole aviation career, from a cadet's first week of ground school to the left seat. Three programmes train cadets, the faculty who teach them and the crews who fly together to notice when someone is struggling, and give each of them a confidential way to get help that is kept apart from training records and fitness-for-duty decisions.

  • Built around DGCA Medical Circular 01 of 2023
  • Works alongside your Peer Support Programme
  • CPD-accredited Gatekeeper certification
Explore the Programmes
12.6%of 1,848 airline pilots met the screening threshold for depression in an anonymous web survey (Wu et al. 2016)
2 to 5.7×the rate of sleep disorders, depression and fatigue among 4,011 US flight attendants, against the general population (McNeely et al. 2014)
1 of 7barriers to pilots seeking care, named by a 2024 FAA rulemaking committee, is fear of losing medical certification
The Gap

The longest stretch of training has the least support

Psychology training is not mandated for pilot schools in India. Cadets live away from home for up to 20 months, many for the first time, while their families carry a large investment. The support that does exist arrives at entry or after the hardest years.

  1. 01

    Selection

    Aptitude and psychometric tests at entry

  2. 02

    Ground school and airbase flying

    A theory exam on human performance and the Class 1 medical. No support programme names student pilots.

    Where Safe Skies starts
  3. 03

    Type rating

    CRM and MCC, in the last months of training

  4. 04

    Airline

    DGCA's 2023 circular advises a Peer Support Programme for crew

Safe Skies Programmes

Three programmes, from first solo to the left seat

Each one stands on its own. Together they cover the cadet, the people who train them, and the crew they will one day fly with.

1
Cadet Resilience Programme

Clear Mind, Safe Skies

Psychological fitness training built into the pilot's journey, from induction to the right seat. It turns the human performance theory cadets already study for the exam into daily practice, and gives them a safe way to ask for help.

Who
Cadets at flying training organisations, plus a Cadet Peer Network
Format
Four modules across about 20 months, in existing timetable slots, weather holds and briefing hours
People leave with
Steadying tools, a pocket card with help numbers, and peers and counsellors at every base
See the cadet modules
2
Gatekeeper: Flight Training Faculty

A Second Pair of Eyes

Flight instructors, ground instructors and hostel staff see a cadet's state of mind long before any medical examiner does. They learn what to look out for, how to ask directly, and how to connect a cadet to help in a way that protects both the person and the flight line.

Who
Flight and ground instructors, wardens, training leadership, base staff
Format
6 hours: Gatekeeper Essentials (4 hrs) plus a 2-hour Flight Training Lab, then 12 months of quarterly case consultation
People leave with
Gatekeeper certificate with CPD hours, and a policy pack for your Safety Management System
3
Gatekeeper: Flight and Cabin Crew

Look Left, Look Right

Crew spend more time with each other than with anyone else: at report, in the galley, on the flight deck and on layover. This programme turns that closeness into early help, and brings colleagues to the operator’s Peer Support Programme.

Who
Captains, First Officers, cabin crew, PSP peers, crew control
Format
6 hours: Gatekeeper Essentials (4 hrs, online around rosters) plus a 2-hour Crew Lab that fits inside recurrent CRM
People leave with
Gatekeeper certificate with CPD hours, crew quick cards and crew room posters
Clear Mind, Safe Skies

Built into the four phases cadets already move through

Each module sits where the pressure peaks, using existing timetable slots. No change to DGCA-approved training hours.

M0
Induction week · 3 hours

Pre-Flight Brief

How pressure works, the I'M SAFE check applied to the mind, where support sits at the academy, and what stays confidential, stated plainly.

M1
Ground school · 6 × 90 minutes

Pressure Labs

Timed ahead of DGCA exam sittings. Stress signatures, exams without burnout, steadying tools usable in a cockpit, setbacks, and asking for help.

M2
Airbase flying · monthly 60 minutes

Steady Circles

Small groups at each base with an MSS psychologist and a Cadet Peer. A check-ride steadying protocol, debriefs after a hard sortie, hostel life and isolation.

M3
Before type rating · 2 × 2 hours

Right Seat Ready

Authority gradient and speaking up, fatigue and roster life, relationships, living with medical checks, and a panel of First Officers now flying.

Running throughout

Cadet Peer Network

Two trained Cadet Peers for roughly every 20 cadets, modelled on DGCA's Peer Support Programme and supervised monthly by an MSS clinical psychologist. Peers listen, steady and signpost. They do not counsel or diagnose.

Instructor and staff gatekeeping

Instructors, wardens and the safety team learn the warning signs, the ALERT conversation method and when to refer. It also covers the instructors' own wellbeing.

Confidential counselling

Sessions with an MSS psychologist, booked directly without going through academy staff, with onward referral to a psychiatrist where needed.

Measurement

Anonymous surveys at entry, month 6 and month 18 (SWEMWBS, PSS-10, sleep and help-seeking). Reported only in groups of 10 or more.

There is no published outcome data yet on psychological training for Indian student pilots. We report what we find, including no change.

Safe to Speak Up

People stay silent when they fear it will reach their record

A cadet's instructor is often the person who grades them. A crew member may outrank the colleague they are worried about. Safe Skies gives you written policies that resolve that tension before anyone needs them.

The wellbeing scrub

Flight training

A cadet who is not fit to fly today, in body or in mind, is stood down with the neutrality of a weather scrub: logged as a scrub, no training deficiency, no explanation in the file. Cadets can call one on themselves.

The two-folder rule

Flight training

The training record holds sorties, hours, checks and grades. A separate welfare note holds dates and actions, with no clinical detail, and is never used for grading, progression or sponsor-airline reports.

The two-channel rule

Airlines

Confidential wellbeing support runs through a PSP peer or a counsellor. Fitness for a particular duty runs through the commander and crew control. Information crosses only when a life or a flight is at risk.

A Non-Normal Checklist for People

What trained faculty and crew do next

Aviation already works from checklists. This one applies the ALERT method from Gatekeeper Essentials. No single sign means danger: look for change from the person's normal, signs that cluster, and signs after a setback such as a failed check or a medical deferral.

  1. Green

    Something has changed

    Within a day, or on this trip. Find a private moment, ask how they really are, and listen more than you talk. Offer the PSP, a Cadet Peer or Talk.

  2. Amber

    You are worried

    The same day. Ask about suicide directly and calmly. Asking does not put the idea in someone's head. Help them book a counsellor or call a PSP peer while you are with them.

  3. Red

    A life may be at risk

    Now. Do not leave them alone. No flying, no driving. Call Tele-MANAS 14416, or 112 in immediate danger, then your designated wellbeing contact. Hand over in person.

If someone may be in danger now, stay with them and call Tele-MANAS 14416 (free, 24×7) or Emergency 112. On a layover abroad, call the local emergency number, then your duty manager. On duty, the safety of the flight comes first: follow your operator's procedures.

Where People Are Referred

Talk by My Safe Spaces

A confidential support service that cadets, faculty and crew book privately on their phone at any hour, from a base, a layover hotel or home, without going through an instructor, a manager, crew control or the sponsor airline. It sits alongside your PSP and EAP, not in place of them.

  • A Talk Buddy, a trained and supervised listener who does not provide counselling, or a qualified counsellor under MSS clinical governance
  • QR codes unique to your organisation and each base. No staff or cadet ID, and nobody at your organisation sees who has booked
  • A quarterly trend report by tier and theme. No figure covers fewer than ten people, and nothing is linked to records, checks, rosters or any medical decision
  • Everyone is told at booking that confidentiality has one limit: an imminent risk to someone's life
Visit Talk
Where Regulators Are Heading

Emotional stability is a flight safety matter

  • DGCA Medical Circular 01 of 2023 advised operators, AAI and flying training organisations to run a Peer Support Programme, a standalone mental health training capsule for flight crew, and mental health promotion within the Safety Management System.
  • When announcing the circular, DGCA recommended that mental health training for flight crew be delivered by a trained clinical psychologist. Safe Skies sessions are led by MSS clinical psychologists.
  • Since 14 February 2021, European rules (Regulation (EU) 2018/1042) have required airlines to give flight crew access to a support programme.
  • In 2024, an FAA rulemaking committee named fear of losing medical certification among the barriers that keep pilots from seeking care.

What Safe Skies is not

Safe Skies supports early help. It does not assess fitness to fly, does not replace the DGCA Class 1 medical or an operator's PSP, SOPs or Safety Management System, and does not advise DGCA on any individual. Those decisions stay with DGCA-empanelled examiners and the DGCA Medical Directorate. Any lasting fitness-to-fly concern goes by the DGCA route.

Regulatory references summarise guidance for planning and are not legal advice.

Getting Started

From first call to the first cohort

  1. 1

    A 45-minute call

    Your bases, headcount, training calendar and the support you already run.

  2. 2

    Policies first

    A named wellbeing contact, the confidentiality and crisis protocol, and the scrub or two-channel rule agreed in writing.

  3. 3

    Launch

    Leadership briefing and the first gatekeeper cohorts, then cadet modules or Crew Labs on your calendar.

crew@mysafespaces.org

Fees depend on the number of cadets, faculty or crew and the bases involved, and are quoted on request. Safe Skies is part of CREW. Gatekeeper Essentials is delivered under CPD Standards Office (UK) Provider #50828. In India, CREW is delivered by MSS Services India LLP, Gurugram.

If you or a colleague need support right now

Saying “not fit today” is airmanship, and asking for help is not the same as losing a licence.

Ready to Talk?

Schedule a 30-minute discovery call to assess your needs and chart a path forward.

info@mysafespaces.org