A panel of mental health experts has recommended that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) act to mitigate potential safety risks by removing barriers that often prevent pilots and air traffic controllers from reporting and seeking care for mental health issues.
Among the specific recommendations in the panel’s April 1 report is a proposal to allow pilots and controllers to participate in talk therapy (psychotherapy) without requiring them to disclose their participation during FAA aeromedical examinations.
Pilots and controllers currently are required to disclose talk therapy — a requirement that the panel said “presumably … was based on the FAA’s view that the use of talk therapy served as a marker for identifying an operational hazard or an impairment to work performance.”
“However,” the report sa…
