December 06, 2023 - 11:39am | By Tom Tucker
(Washington, DC) -- Aviation workers are suffering from "a culture of silence" about mental health that's affecting safety.
That's according to the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy.
She said at a summit to discuss the issue that current FAA rules push people to lie or deny help.
She said that workers in the aviation industry are "in effect punished for following the rules around disclosure" of mental health challenges.
Earlier this week, the FAA announced it was creating a new rulemaking committee with the aim to make pilots and air traffic controllers feel safer talking about mental health.