The FAA is working with the commercial aviation and medical communities to study the emotional and mental health of U.S. commercial pilots.
The joint FAA and industry group known as the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) recommended the study based on the recent Malaysia Flight 370 and Germanwings Flight 9525 accidents.
The Pilot Fitness Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) will provide the FAA with recommendations within six months. The group will include U.S. and international government and industry aviation experts, including a working group of medical professionals who specialize in aerospace medicine.
While U.S. pilots undergo robust medical screening, recent accidents in other parts of the world prompted the FAA to take a new look at pilot fitness, FAA officials noted.
The ARC will examine issues including the awareness and reporting of emotional and mental health issues, the methods used to evaluate pilot emotional and mental health, and barriers to reporting such issues, FAA officials explained.
Based on the group’s recommendations, the FAA may consider changes to medical methods, aircraft design, policies and procedures, pilot training and testing, training for Aerospace Medical Examiners, or potential actions that may be taken by professional, airline, or union groups. The ARC’s meetings will not be open to the public.
Federal Aviation Regulations outline the medical requirements for pilots. U.S airline pilots undergo a medical exam with an FAA-approved physician every six or 12 months depending on the pilot’s age.
When a government bureaucratic agency like the FAA starts meddling in an area for which there is almost entirely grey and very little black and white to define the mental state of pilots watch out. I can see a requirement to take some multiple choice psycho test as part of the medical certification process with a follow-up visit to a shrink depending on the test result. Or worse yet there could be a requirement for essentially ratting out fellow crewmembers should they, the rat-ee, do anything deemed in the rat-or’s opinion to be an indication of mental instability. This can become a can of worms so fast it’s scary.
Oh great.. Look the FAA not being productive about fixing the current problems that they have already created in the industry, I’m in good shape but it seems like they are trying to morph us in to military pilot standards, no offense to them but unfortunately the civilian world is different. My opinion would to not even elect a former military Federal Air Surgeon. Hell even that may not even stop the stupidity in the agency, it’s literally a faceless government agency that you cannot express your vote towards anything.
Oh oh…. The last time the FAA decided to do something about pilot fitness we got Dr. Fred’s sleep apnea screening proposal based on BMI and neck size. That proposal was introduced with the typical “This is happening folks so better get in step with the program” but look what happened: both Dr. Fred and the BMI/neck size standards sort of disappeared.
What is it gonna be this time? A rorschach test? Investigation into whether a pilot wet his bed, kicked the family dog or was fascinated by campfires as a lad? Ownership of firearms? Purchases of Amazon Kindle books on a no-no list? Are FAA staffers intently studying the astronaut selection sequences of “The Right Stuff”?