The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it will join forces with air carriers and the medical community to study the mental and emotional health of commercial pilots. The study could lead to sweeping new recommendations affecting pilots, the airlines and government procedures.
The study group, which will be known as the Commercial Aviation Safety
An FAA committee will provide the agency with recommendations within six months. The group will include U.S. and international government experts, and aviation safety specialists, including doctors and other medical personnel who specialize in aerospace medicine.
In a news release, the FAA noted that U.S. pilots undergo regular and extensive screening, including a medical exam with an FAA-approved physician every six or 12 months, depending on the pilot's age. "But recent accidents in other parts of the world prompted the FAA to take a new look at the importance of pilot fitness," the agency said.
The committee will investigate issues such as
- The awareness and reporting of mental health issues.
- The methods used to evaluation pilots' mental and emotional health.
- Any barriers to reporting such problems.
Depending on what the group recommends, the FAA said it could consider changes to medical methods, aircraft design, policies and procedures, pilot training and testing, and actions that might be taken by the airline or the pilots' union. It said the committee's deliberations will not be open to the public.
The Germanwings crash in April killed 150 people when the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, apparently crashed the plane deliberately on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. Various reports said the co-pilot had been treated for suicidal tendencies, and had practiced a controlled, rapid descent on a previous flight. The flight prompted a series of governments to follow the lead of U.S. officials and adopt the "rule of two," requiring that two people be in the cockpit at all times during a flight.
Under the standard, should a pilot leave the cockpit, to use a lavatory, have a bite to eat or check on a passenger, a flight attendant joins the other pilot until the pilot returns. Although flight attendants aren’t often capable of flying planes, many know how to communicate with controllers on the ground.
Malaysia's Flight 370 disappeared in March, 2014, between Kuala Lampur and Beijing. No trace of the aircraft has ever been found. The plane carried 239 people, including crew members. Some investigators theorize that the pilots deliberately turned off the plane's tracking system, but there has been no conclusion on whether the accident was deliberate.
