FAA расширила полномочия врачей для продления медсправок пилотам с тревожностью и депрессией

The FAA late last month expanded aviation medical examiners’ authority to reissue medical certificates to certain pilots with anxiety, depression and related conditions. The agency added the new AME-Assisted Special Issuance pathway to its AME Guide on July 29. Under the new pathway, the FAA still makes the initial Special Issuance determination. Once the agency authorizes a pilot for the program, an AME can reissue subsequent medical certificates if the pilot continues to meet the FAA’s requirements and provides the required medical documentation. Documentation Still Required Participating pilots must provide the medical documentation specified by the FAA for continued certification. The AME must defer the application to the FAA if the pilot develops new psychiatric symptoms or diagnoses, has a progression of the condition, develops a new substance-use disorder or if the treating provider or AME identifies other concerns. “The FAA encourages pilots to seek help if they have a mental health condition since most, if treated, do not disqualify a pilot from flying,” the agency states in its Pilot Mental Fitness guidance. The FAA says about 0.1% of medical certificate applicants who disclose health issues are ultimately denied. The FAA plans to review existing Special Issuance antidepressant cases for eligibility under the new pathway as they come up for review during the next six months, according to the Pilot Mental Health Campaign. The group said pilots do not need to request early review and that the first cases had already been approved under the program by early August. Chief pilot reports are also no longer required for initial or follow-up antidepressant applications, although they remain required for substance-dependence cases handled through HIMS and may still be requested in some cases. New Role for AMEs “We applaud the FAA for making changes to shift responsibility toward self-monitoring and collaborative decision-making between the treatment provider and airmen,” the Pilot Mental Health Campaign said in a LinkedIn post. The AASI pathway applies to pilots and contract air traffic controllers certificated under Part 67. The Pilot Mental Health Campaign said the FAA is separately working to update the process for FAA-employed controllers covered under Order 3930.3C.