FAA Won’t Test Pilots For Mental Health Issues

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not require airline pilots to be tested for psychological disorders but will instead encourage voluntary reporting and treatment of mental health issues, the agency recently announced. The FAA outlined a series of steps it is taking to improve mental health evaluations among commercial pilots. Instead of requiring psychological testing, the agency will embrace a more “holistic approach” that focuses on education, outreach and training. The announcement comes over a year after a Germanwings pilot who was treated for suicidal tendencies deliberately flew a plane into a mountainside, killing everyone on board.

An industry advisory . . .