Originally published at: House Committee Advances Pilot Mental Health Bill - AVweb
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed the Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill that aims to modernize mental health policies for pilots.
Supremely disappointed that Air Traffic Controllers arent included in this bill.
I dug into this a bit as I did not understand it fully.
The Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025 is a bipartisan bill aimed at breaking the stigma that keeps pilots and air traffic controllers from getting mental health help. Many avoid treatment out of fear itāll cost them their medical clearance, and their careers.
This bill tells the FAA to update its mental health rules within two years, making it safer for pilots and controllers to self-report and get treatment. It also pushes for faster, fairer medical certification, more approved medications, better AME training, and more authority for medical examiners.
It backs all this with nearly $14 million a year for more trained AMEs, plus $1.5 million a year for a national outreach campaign to reduce stigma. If all goes well, it could be law by yearās end.
The paradigm shift needed for efforts like this to enjoy fruition is as deeply ingrained in society as racism, anti-intellectualism or religious superiority.
Weāll need bold, fearless drivers and participants to show educators, the media, the Military - Joe six-pack, about generational bias and prejudice of human values concerning achievement and success in human striving.
This bill doesnāt stand a chance without fearless participants who can firmly Stand Against Stigma where it truly lives.
But if it can help at least light up a few pathways for pilots and others, let it be so.
Mental health (or a lack thereof) will be the major topic in the years and decades to come. Not sure if and how this slow-motion trainwreck is supposed to stop.
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15 million annually for more AMEās and campaigns, to break a stigma that exists amongst the employers? Thatās not logical. Thatās crazy.
Thank you for this explanation, Raf.
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I am not sure there are so many employers out there, who would apply a stigma to an employee who comes forward with emotional/ mental health issues. My guess would be, that admitting a issue and seeking help (from anyone in the boat) is better than eventually snapping and sinking the boat.
The FAA needs to take a long and hard look at the development-stage of chemical psychiatric treatments. The medications prescribed these days are multifold and we have diagnostic guidelines in the current DSM which have chemical answers to almost everything. Therapyā¦ meeehā¦ not so smirky.
Unfortunately, this isnāt how āmental healthā works or functions in society. Issues are on the rise, not stagnant and definitely not reducing.
I often wonder how we will fill our cockpits with pulsing humans if any and all psychiatric treatments depend on nothing but half-baked pharma to solve for X.
Well, when adults are mentally ill and have sex with minors, that āstigmaā is permanent; they will never work again in many fields and they will forever be mapped on āoffendersā community websites. Itās forever with them whether right or wrong.
Painting pilots with a broad brush of mental illness means that employers NEED to know precisely what the documented issue was. There is a big difference between a pilot that suffered from eating crayons when nervous and a pilot that attempted suicide. Employers need to know so they can decide who that they will put in the left seat (so any issues need to be well documented and available).
Mental illness or maybe itās just mental instability. Maybe the pilot needs help because his immature adolescent son or daughter is blaming him for all their problems. The child is telling the dad what a sorry SOB he is and how bad he mistreated them as they were growing up because they didnāt get enough ice cream.
These type things happen and can create a temporary Mental instability that needs attention. If the bill provides for a way a pilot can seek such help without fear of job loss then this should be a good thing.
Military pilot comes out of combat with the weight of the world on his shoulders as he battles mentally with right and wrong. Great pilot, he just needs a little help.
Just my thoughts
Thanks Mike
Not all Mental Illnesses are sex crimes, stalkers or mass murderers. And not all are permanent.
I applaud the committee for tackling a very difficult issue. Mental health issues effect virtually aspect of society. Maybe there should be different approval mechanisms for private pilots versus professional pilots carrying passengers. Just like itās the patient who takes the ultimate risk for a given procedure, and not the doctor or hospital. Itās the passenger who takes the ultimate risk when flying, and not the FAA or pilotās employer. Iād interested in hearing from AMEās and what theyāed be willing to sign-off on.
The proliferation of graphic images of crashing and exploding aircraft has to have an impact on pilotās mental health. Prior to the proliferation of dashcams, iPhones and ubiquitous security videos, pilotās imaginations buffered them from the reality of what their end could look like. It would take an uncharacteristic sensitivity on the part of YouTube and media in general to avoid posting the graphic images that attract views and the money they produce.
"The proliferation of graphic images of crashing and exploding aircraft has to have an impact on pilotās mental health. "
Itās an interesting take. Iād say the comfort of detachment could allow an individualās mental health to go either way.
Iām of the pre-teen generation from the late 50ās early 60ās and the unforgettable
shock-value driverās education films like āSignal 30ā - which left nothing to the imagination of a wide-eyed 11 year old. The graphic images of mangled bodies and blaring stuck horns can still be unearthed from my fading memory bankā¦
Iāll confidently go out on a wing though and say the memories of our teachers were relatively likely as distressing as ours, of the ashen faces and stunned looks from the unsuspecting lemmings in the classroom, perhaps even more so than the images from the shocking movies. Iād be curious about their mental health too! 
A really big issue and 15 megabucks can only open the can of worms. This will need serious money and UNBIASED understanding to move toward proposing solutions.
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Oh yes, so very right you are. A spot on assessment.
Isnāt āmegalomaniacyā in the DSM? Forget the cockpit, letās start at the top.
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