FAA Updates Criteria for Mental Health Evaluations of Pilots

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently updated its guidelines regarding mental health diagnoses for pilots. If a pilot has had no more than two mental health diagnoses in their history, automatic review by the FAA is no longer required for any class of pilot certificate under certain conditions. The revised guidance to Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) focuses on “uncomplicated anxiety, depression and related conditions.” One major change is that if the pilot has been off medication for two years, there are no issues raised by a specific questionnaire, and the AME has no concerns, then the FAA does not need to be involved in the process.

The questionnaire given to pilots deals with serious mental health issues such as suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and whether the pilot has been hospitalized or undergone court-ordered evaluation. AMEs are reminded to be thorough and conservative in their assessment. The new guidance states that if all responses fall into the “NO”/CLEAR COLUMN, the AME may issue the certificate with notes in Block 60 indicating that the history of uncomplicated anxiety, depression, and related conditions was discussed, no positives were found in the screening questions, and there were no concerns. However, if any single item falls into the “YES”/SHADED COLUMN, the AME must defer issuance of the certificate according to the FAA’s requirements.

Russ Niles, the Editor-in-Chief of AVweb, who has been a pilot for 30 years, shared this information. He has been part of AVweb for 22 years and resides in southern British Columbia with his wife, where they also operate a small winery.