US must do more on mental health of aviation professionals -safety
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[December 07, 2023]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States must do more to prioritize the
mental health of pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation
professionals, a top safety official said on Wednesday, after an
off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot allegedly tried to crash a commercial
flight in October.
The pilot was charged with trying to disable the engines of a jet in
flight and told police afterward he was suffering a nervous breakdown.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a
day-long forum on the issue that regulators must empower people to get
help.
"There is a culture right now that you either lie or you seek help. We
can't have that. That's not safety," she told reporters.
Pilots are required to report certain mental health conditions to
aviation medical examiners, who determine fitness to fly.
Homendy cited challenges such as controllers being forced to work
mandatory six-day work weeks because of employee shortages, and backed
amnesty for pilots and others to "come forward and be honest about
struggles."
Jeremy Horn, managing safety director of Horizon Air, a unit of Alaska
Airlines, said the incident involving the off-duty pilot in the cockpit
"jump seat" of the Oct. 22 Horizon flight had prompted a wider
discussion about mental health.
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![](../images/120723PIX/health34.jpg)
A passenger checks their flight status at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) had ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures due to a
system outage in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 11, 2023.
REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Dec/07/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_112023.png) Horizon is holding a quarterly
safety day on Monday focused on self-care.
The Federal Aviation Administration said last month it was naming a
pilot mental health committee with about 20 members to provide
recommendations to encourage pilots, air traffic controllers and
others to report mental health issues.
The FAA said it will address open recommendations from a July
inspector general's office report which found the agency's ability
to reduce safety risks is "limited by pilots' reluctance to disclose
mental health conditions."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang)
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