EVERETT, Wash. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it's in the process of creating a "Pilot Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee," or ARC.
The new committee will offer advice and recommendations to encourage pilots to report their mental health conditions.
"It's doing exactly what the FAA should be doing," said John Nance, an aviation consultant.
This committee is being announced as off-duty pilot Joseph Emerson currently faces criminal charges after allegedly trying to shut off a plane leaving Everett midflight.
"I don't think there's any question that the FAA rolled out this new study as fast as they could after what happened in the Horizon Cockpit in the jump seat," Nance said.
According to charging documents, Emerson admitted to police that he had struggled with depression for six years. He admitted to police he was in crisis and put 84 lives at risk including his own.
"Because we’ve had such good programs for helping people, especially with alcoholism, that has been minimized," Nance said. "By the same token, it's still very true that if an airline pilot seeks help for depression or anything else that involves medication, you're going to be offline and your profession to a certain extent is interdicted."
In a statement, Alaska Airlines said more can be done and "opportunities exist to encourage pilots with mental health issues to disclose and seek treatment."
"I'm really happy there is a discussion about mental health," said passenger Wendy Sayers.
Sayers said her granddaughter’s a pilot at Sea-Tac and the companies need to take an active role in helping employees access help.
"It's not about having something wrong with you to seek help," Sayers said. "It's about making your life fuller, better, all of the above."
According to the Airline Pilots Association, they have worked for decades with the FAA to support pilot's mental health. They plan to continue working to help their pilots with this new committee.