The FAA’s concern is that the prospective pilot is not a danger to other people. Whatever medication triggered the concern, it’s not so much the medication as the reason for the medication.
Pilots can receive treatment for mental health concerns. It might mean they are grounded during treatment. For someone seeking a license after receiving treatment the FAA wants some assurance that the prospective pilot’s mental health problem was temporary/transitory and not permanent.
So… if, hypothetically, a pilot received treatment after a traumatic event - an accident, death of a spouse or child, etc. - and the mental issues are now resolved - the person has gone through a mourning period, or recovered from whatever - and medication/therapy is no longer needed then they will likely get an OK to fly (likely - no guarantees). And if it was a problem that the kid was having some issues with being a teenager/school/whatever and those problems are resolved and he no longer needs treatment that should also, in theory, be a hurdle you can clear. With some effort.
So… @Crafter_Man son will need the help of a specialist AME to navigate the medical rules and forms for this purpose. I don’t know if they’re still doing it, but back when I was trying to get a medical (which I did eventually get) the APOA, Airplane Pilot’s and Owner’s Association, had a list of such people and information on navigating the system. It might be worth a membership to join the organization if they can help you.
Maybe other pilots have further suggestions and information for you.
And yes, mental health is a quagmire at the FAA. Far more than their comparatively enlightened views on physical health. Largely due to the rather primitive witch-doctor level of the best of modern mental health care, both psychological and psychiatric.
Son needs to do nothing directly with the FAA. That way lies doom. He will say or do or submit something dumb and that’ll be the end of that. And he may already have, but it’s worth a very diligent try to recover from where he sits today.
Son needs to contact the doc who tried to issue his medical certificate (an AME) and ask that person for advice on who to hire to proceed. Some AMEs do only the simple vanilla stuff. Others do the complicated stuff. If this is a simple AME he/she ought to have some idea of who’s better suited to guide son through his situation.
If that AME has no good ideas the next step is to contact AOPA and ask their advice. As @Broomstick said. (See below).
You don’t want a lawyer; the FAA is not doing anything contrary to law or their normal policies. Piloting is a highly regulated privilege, not at all a right. All lawyering up will do is trigger the very worst of their bureaucratic “just say NO” instincts.
What you need is a FAA-certified doctor who knows how the mental health part of their game is played. And can liaison between any and all non-aviation health care providers the son has used to assemble a proper documentation package using the buzzwords the FAA likes, and avoid those they don’t. While still being truthful.
That might be a so-called HIMS AME who specializes in substance abuse recovery. But if son is/was not a substance abuser that may be the wrong specialty. But somebody like that is yet another resource to point you towards the resource you do want; they’ll almost certainly know who the mental health-oriented AMEs are.
Hint: there won’t be one of these rare birds in your hometown. You will be flying across the country to meet these folks. Plus a bunch of emailing and zooming. It won’t be cheap. But done right this will be a mere speedbump and highly cautionary tale for son’s future.
Assuming of course he is not actually suffering from a diagnosable mental health condition. There’s a lot less wiggle room if that is really going on. And for legitimate reasons.
This is a service to help with these sorts of nasty medical certificate issuance problems. It is commnly used by professional pilots and endorsed or subcontracted to by several professional pilots’ unions. They are the kind of advocate son needs. Again not cheap and probably not convenient. But they’d be worth contacting to at least learn their initial impressions if not to handle the whole case.
My bottom line: Some problems are much better avoided than repaired. Unfortunately, this is one of those problems. Good luck. Seriously, not snarkily.
My understanding of the HIMS program was that it was for people with otherwise disqualifying medical diagnoses. Seems like I’ve misunderstood there, but that more generally the AMEs that can navigate the HIMS process have the tools for other special issuance needs.
One of the things that I understand will be critical is what the therapist actually diagnosed, if anything (and now that I think about it, if medication was prescribed, wouldn’t that be a psychiatrist?). As I understand it, it’s one thing to speak with a therapist, and a whole other thing to have a diagnosis code recorded and sent to the insurer.
AIUI “HIMS” is a catch-all term that addresses a lot of different issues, but started out as substance abuse specifically. Which is a disqualifying diagnosis all by itself.
AIUI not all AMEs are even authorized to do special issuances for all types of problem.
The OP has enough data now to go seek experts who can dig into the actual details of the son’s circumstances and paperwork. I’m kinda disinclined to speculate in public on the son’s personal situation, and any supposed details of the rules.
Guess I did not recall correctly about basic med.
One option is Sport Pilot – You just need a driver’s license – though you are limited in what aircraft you are allowed to fly.
If finances allow – I’d have him continue to fly with an instructor so skills do not atrophy
Today I learned abut BasicMed. I’d not known anything about it. Thank you.
I have a 1st class medical now of course. With special issuance for controlled diabetes. Maintaining that SI is a PITA and I have expected to let my 1st lapse to a 2nd here soon then expire completely in a few months. Leaving me unable to fly until / unless I jump again through the SI hoops for a 3rd or higher class.
BasicMed probably answers any potential hobbyist need I’d ever have. Thank you all.
Wow, thanks for all the replies! This is why I love the Dope.
Oh, and he just wants to be a private pilot, not an airline pilot.
So it sounds like the best course of action is for Michael to first meet with the AME who gave him the physical, and explain the situation to them. And if they feel it’s an area outside their area of expertise, ask them if they know an AME who specializes in this area. Is that correct?
That is a decent first step. Calling AOPA or AMAS would be next, or if he gets stonewalled or blown off by his AME.
20yos are certainly adults, but thinking back on what a cringe-worthy rank amateur I was then at adulting, he might need a bit more assistance than mere advice from dear old Dad. You know your son; I sure don’t. Good luck however he/you attack this problem.
AOPA and the like lobbied for BasicMed for quite a while. Glad it will work for you. I’m a creature of habit and just keep renewing my 3rd class medical certificate.
The Sport Pilot thing only works if you have not been denied a medical and if you yourself do not know of a disqualifying condition. At this point, neither applies in this case.
Ultralights are a possibility, as they do not need any medical authorization (or any training, for that matter) but that’s a pretty limited form of flying. It may or may not scratch the itch.
Just a note to @Crafter_Man: It’s possible his instructor may be asked some questions as well. A few years ago one of my instrument students suffered a minor stroke. I was asked to write a letter to someone at the FAA regarding my beliefs in whether he was trustworthy to self-ground, should such indications arise again. His medical was re-instated, and he’s still flying.
Mental health fluctuates much like physical health. It’s possible to have periods when one’s emotional health is poor, and it is just as possible to come out of that and be fine. Not every mental/emotional condition is permanent. I think the FAA is being unreasonable in this instance because all indications show his issue was temporary and is past.
From the OP’s description it sounds like the FAA is awaiting documentation from professionals that his upset episode is indeed past and unlikely to recur. The problem for the OP’s son is he’s stumbling over what proof to get, who to get it from, and how to package it to FAA’s satisfaction. Said another way, he has a bureaucratic problem, not a medical problem.
I fully expect that when he delivers that right package of paperwork with the right words on it, his medical will be issued. As long as he hasn’t / doesn’t indelibly shoot himself in the foot first. But as a confused worried 20yo he’s not going to stumble onto the right answer without a bureaucratic sherpa to help him get there.
I imagine shooting himself in the foot would be disqualifying for sure insofar as it indicates ongoing mental health problems. I would definitely advise him against doing that.
There are people who have had treatment for psychological/psychiatric issues who were later permitted to fly, but they had to provide some sort of evidence that this was a non-permanent condition. Also, the FAA would like some assurance that if something arises in the future the pilot will self-ground until safe to fly again.
The FAA can want proof all it wants, but proof, in either direction, does not exist.
They can’t analyze a blood sample for serum schizophrenerase or metabolic byproducts of bipolarity or whatever. There isn’t a single physical indicator that constitutes a diagnostic positive for any psychiatric disorder. Whenever there has been, the malady in question has been lifted away from the psychiatric domain and dropped into neurology or endocrinology or other branch of medicine, leaving psychiatry as the domain of things diagnosed solely on the basis of behavior.
The problem with behavior is it’s contextual and subject to interpretation.
How about phrasing it as they “want supportive evidence”?
Office notes documenting resolution of acute symptoms is one set of possible good enough evidence. Sometimes health professionals are asked to provide letters stating current conditions for similar purposes, both documenting the presence or absence of specific conditions. They also are not proof, but they are evidence.
