The Supreme Court's decision last year to overturn Chevron's doctrine in 1984 could also affect medical accreditation. Up until that ruling, the FAA was essentially the ultimate authority on aviation-related issues. Ambiguity related to medical certification was resolved by postponing it to the institution. However, the new ruling means that in theory a judge can make a decision differently than the FAA. “I don't know of any air lawyers who are not excited,” said Joseph Lorso, the lawyer who turned to his eyes as the pilot faced a retreat in certification.
However, given the limitations of aviation medicine exams and psychiatry itself, the biggest impact on airline safety is not as much of a rulemaking as it is honesty. “Even with all the rules, we really come to those who tell the truth, and at the end of the day, we hope that people who don't tell the truth will not be at a safety risk.”
In his remarks, he talks about why the Aviation Rules Committee is trying to ease restrictions. It's about encouraging more pilots to be honest. The committee's recommendations “allow people who are deemed not currently ready to fly and are deemed capable of flying,” said Stephen Alttüller, the committee's psychiatrist. Skipping these pilots could result in what he calls an “unmeasurable increase in risk,” but he compares that unknown risk to the known safety of the current system. Until the recent crash in Washington, the US had not had a massive, fatal commercial airline crash, the longest period since 2009. Still, he says the unknown risks will be “more than compensated” by getting the help needed by more pilots. If these pilots are willing to receive treatment under FAA surveillance, “the other 10,000 flights could be better,” says Altchuler. “That's a trade-off.” After all, there's no risk of zero – unless you never fly.
The FAA has proven the pilot's medical fitness, but in the moment before takeoff, it's their colleagues who work. After the Emerson episode, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming that if the captain had officially evaluated Emerson, it could have detected something wrong and prevented him from boarding the plane.
The airline and its associations have established a confidential peer support network for pilots that are promising in Europe. The Aviation Rules Committee recommends expanding them. However, Brian Bombhoff, founder and chairman of the Pilot Mental Health Campaign, warns that “FAA and airlines may be underscoring to some extent the role peer support can play alone.” The program still relies on pilots themselves to begin helping, and their peers are not trained medical professionals and cannot force people to care.
