WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- A bipartisan effort to reduce the stigma around pilots who seek mental‑health care cleared a key hurdle Tuesday, winning unanimous approval from the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The measure -- the Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025 -- would direct the Federal Aviation Administration to update its regulations for aviators who disclose a mental‑health diagnosis, with the goal of making it easier for pilots to seek treatment without fear of jeopardizing their careers.
Introduced in November by Sens. John Hoeven, R‑N.D., and Tammy Duckworth, D‑Ill., the $15 million bill now heads to the full Senate, where supporters say they hope to secure floor time later this session.
"For too long, many individuals who love to fly have struggled in silence, with untreated mental health conditions, for fear of losing their careers," Duckworth said.
Duckworth, a general aviation pilot who retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard, cited an incident from Oct. 18, 2022, in which a student from Chicago at the University of North Dakota studying to become a commercial pilot took his life by crashing his plane.
