FAA unveils new committee focused on pilot mental health struggles

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday announced the creation of a new committee aimed at reducing stigma and eliminating barriers that discourage pilots from addressing their mental health issues.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement that the committee, the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Rulemaking Committee (ARC), will be tasked with presenting recommendations to the FAA by the end of March 2024 on ways “to identify and break down any remaining barriers” for pilots and air traffic controllers.

The FAA will soon announce the committee’s members, who Whitaker said will be experts from the aviation and medical communities.

The announcement comes after the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report in July 2023 on the state of pilot mental health challenges. In the report, the OIG found that, while the FAA “has comprehensive procedures to evaluate pilots’ psychological health” and follows those procedures closely, other barriers exist to addressing the issue.

“The FAA’s ability to mitigate safety risks is limited by pilots’ reluctance to disclose mental health conditions,” the report found, according to the FAA charter officially establishing ARC on Monday. “The primary factors that discourage pilots from reporting their mental health conditions are the stigma associated with mental health, the potential impact on their careers, and fear of financial hardship.”

“Addressing these barriers is critical for the FAA to mitigate potential aviation safety risks,” the report concluded.

The July 2023 report included two recommendations for the FAA, including to collaborate with industry experts to identify barriers discouraging pilots from seeking treatment or disclosing conditions. The FAA said Monday that the establishment of ARC seeks to address this recommendation, for which the OIG set a deadline of April 30, 2024.

The second recommendation to the FAA in July was to “develop and implement policy and protocol revisions recommended in the assessment.” The FAA said Monday that ARC’s establishment “will inform FAA efforts” to address this recommendation, for which the OIG set a deadline of Sept. 30, 2024.

ARC’s establishment is an effort to address recommendations in the July 2023 report, but it also comes just over two months after an off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit of a plane tried to cut the engines, prompting the plane to make an emergency landing in Portland, which it did safely.

The off-duty pilot told police that he had been struggling with depression after a friend recently died and had taken psychedelic mushrooms, which is illegal in most states but which the Food and Drug Administration has granted “breakthrough therapy” status for use in helping to treat mental health conditions.