The Federal Aviation Administration has formed a committee focusing on the mental health of pilots.
The Pilot Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee will focus on developing recommendations to address the barriers preventing pilots from reporting mental health issues to the agency, according to a Nov. 9 news release.
The committee will include medical experts, as well as aviation and labor representatives. The FAA will also work with the committee to address open recommendations from the DOT Office of Inspector General's July 2023 report on pilot mental health challenges.
Other goals of the committee include hiring additional mental health professionals to expand in-house expertise and decrease wait times for return-to-fly decisions as well as supporting industry-wide research and clinical studies, the release said.