Page 16 - May24

AVIATION ISSUES
FAA News
Mental Health and SMS
Mental Health FAA Committee Releases Recommendation Report
The Mental Health & Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recently released their Recommendation Report. The ARC was formed in December 2023 to mitigate potential aviation safety risks due to mental health.
The ARC provided a forum for the U.S. aviation community to discuss the barriers preventing pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) from reporting and seeking care for mental health issues. The forum included the ARC members, observers and contributors consisting “of a broad representation of people, including aerospace medicine, psychiatric and psychological medical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM), FAA Flight Standards Service (AFS), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), U.S. aviation industry trade associations, pilot/ controller representative organizations, academia and international aviation industry associations and civil aviation authorities (CAAs).”
The ARC also reviewed mental health guidelines and procedures in place at other international regulatory
agencies, acknowledging their experiences can help inform revisions to FAA’s approaches. Other potential barriers identified by the committee include culture, trust, fear, stigma, financial, knowledge and information gap.
“In total, the ARC report includes 24 recommendations to the FAA and aviation stakeholders,” said Mark Larsen, NBAA’s director for safety and flight operations and an ARC member. “If fully implemented, these recommendations would help ensure those in the aviation community seek out appropriate resources and treatment to address mental health concerns.”
A summary of the ARC’s recommendations:
= Create a non-punitive pathway for disclosing mental health conditions and treatments.
= Revise and evaluate the requirements for reporting and certification/qualification of psychotherapy (talk therapy), depression/anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and post- traumatic stress disorder.
= Ensure that aeromedical screening protocols and requirements are based on Safety Management System principles (i.e., proportionate, relevant
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
MAY 2024