Federal Air Surgeon Addresses Mental Health Progress, Deferral Delays

Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrup says a pilot medical Bill of Rights is under development, a shorter time lag for pilots to regain their privileges after a medication change is on the way and sometime in the future there will be a "period of non-enforcement" to allow those with undeclared history or challenges with mental health to get the help they need without fear of sanctions. During a Q and A at the National Safety Forum at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas on Wednesday, she also said the backlog delay of medical deferral decisions has been reduced from a year to less than three months and will be reduced further. She's also hoping that those awaiting their deferrals will soon be able to accurately track their progress accurately online in real time.

Northrup was in Las Vegas to specifically address mental health issues in aviation, notably the well-known practice of lying about mental health problems to avoid deferrals and potential loss of certificate. She said initial steps taken earlier this year and the "culture shift" in aviation and society as a whole to take a more pragmatic and performance-based approach to mental health are showing results. She said she has observed that more aviation personnel are telling their AMEs about their mental health issues. "We're starting to see it come through," she said. "Anecdotally, we can see it."

Northrup said there is more to come in breaking the stigma and lessening the perceived danger of reporting mental health treatment or the need to pursue it. There has also been about an 80% buy-in by AMEs to embrace the culture change and work with the agency on mental health issues.

She also said medical applicants with a deferral play a major role in streamlining the process by ensuring they supply all the documents her office needs to process their application. Checklists are available in the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners.