The self-described 'nervous breakdown' allegedly experienced by the Alaska Airlines pilot was hardly the first incident leading to a wider conversation about mental health treatment for professional pilots.
Eyewitness News John DelGiorno talks about how serious the situation was and how fatal it could have been.But the repeated, days-long stretches away from home - commuting back and forth between his home near Houston and regional carrier SkyWest's crew based in Detroit - began to take a toll on his new marriage and himself.
That chorus came to a head this week when Joseph D. Emerson of California was charged with trying to crash an Alaska Airlines flight.
"The FAA essentially encourages people to not report problems," said Blue, who has 40 years of experience and the advanced FAA credentials to review pilots with alcohol- or drug-related histories. Homendy - speaking publicly about the issue for the first time - said the current rules have created a stigma where pilots with easily treatable mental health issues go without any help at all. Homendy said some pilots even fear seeing a therapist, citing the FAA's rules.
"Saying I have depression means something very different in 1995 than it does in 2023," Hoffman said.The self-described "nervous breakdown" allegedly experienced by the Alaska Airlines pilot was hardly the first incident leading to a wider conversation about mental health treatment for professional pilots.
But the committee recommended against "adding psychological testing to the hiring process or to the routine medical examinations," saying there was no data to back such an approach.
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