Clear Skies Ahead

On April 2nd, 2025, Volunteers for the Pilot Mental Health Campaign and supporters will return to Washington, D.C., for the second year in a row to advocate for mental health reform. This comes exactly one year after the Aviation Rulemaking Committee gave twenty-four recommendations to better Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances. As of now, ZERO of these twenty-four recommendations have been fully implemented. Join us as we advocate for positive change to Mental Health in Aviation. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/grmfvXw5

Join us as we recognize the first national Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month. Help raise awareness and share resources that connect people to the treatment they might need: https://lnkd.in/guy28iCg #TreatmentMonth

This is a story about never giving up. Jeremy Robertson first joined Qantas as a pilot in 2001. In 2010, after a chest infection, he developed type 1 diabetes. As a consequence he lost his aviation medical clearance to fly. Not one to take this lying down, Jeremy became a doctor of medicine with a focus on aviation. He was eventually able to get a clearance to fly small aircraft, but not with paying passengers on board. For years, he maintained records of his blood sugar levels whilst flying. In 2016, he submitted these records to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), along with data that the UK and Canadian aviation regulators had on allowing aviators with type 1 diabetes to fly. After three years of review, CASA changed their policies and Jeremy finally regained his full medical clearance to fly in 2020. Because of his efforts, several other pilots in Australia with type 1 diabetes have been able to continue their careers (the first of which joined Jeremy on the last two flights of his final check, to show his support). Earlier this year Jeremy completed his re-training as a Boeing 737 First Officer - some 14 years later. Congratulations, Jeremy!

NEW RESEARCH: Underreporting of Depression in Australian Commercial Pilots by S. Minnock and D. Thomas (2024). https://lnkd.in/gBn8tbtT The purpose of this study was to examine whether scores on a depression screening tool would differ when it was presented as a "life stress" questionnaire in a sample of Australian commercial pilots. Subjects were assigned to either a "Life Stress" or "Depression" (control group)survey. Results: The "Life Stress," group had significantly higher average depression scores (41%) than the control group (25%). The research further supports the idea that pilots may underreport depression due to the stigma and fear associated with the "depression" label. More research in this area can be done: How many pilots may be underreporting depression due to a lack of understanding about the condition? At Clear Skies Ahead, we are focused on raising awareness and providing education. Pilots experiencing high levels of work or life stress are at greater risk for depression. By educating them, we aim to improve their well-being, help them maintain a high quality of life, and ensure they continue to fly safely. - Join us today! We are excited to see continued research in this area- keep it coming! #AmSA #pilothealthresearch #WilliamHoffman #FAA #healthliteracy #aviationhealth #pilothealth #pilotmentalhealth #aviationwellness #healthypilots #fittofly #aviationsafety #aviationmentalhealth #healthymindsinthesky #supportpilotmentalhealth #resilientpilots #clearskiesaheadnonprofit #pilotmentalhealthcampaign #PilotLife #avgeeks #FlightTraining #Airplane #Flying #AviationLovers #CommercialAviation #PrivatePilot #FlightDeck #Aircraft #FlightSafety #airtrafficcontroller #research #flightsafety #AviationSafety #mentalhealth

It has been the privilege of a lifetime to be one among many, many people working together to support the mental health and wellness of aircrew and our United States Air Force and United States Department of Defense personnel. It is a privilege to be a part of an organization committed to caring for our personnel and really walking the walk. Thank you to the many who made all this work possible, including Elijah Miranda, MPH, Mark Rosenberg, MD and great teachers including Adam Willis, Tony Yuan, Quay Snyder, Anthony Tvaryanas and many many others. Special thanks to the amazing team at Air Force Research Laboratory including Rachael Martinez and Tanya Goodman for the chance to learn. These people (and many others!) are really the thought leaders building the path forward! 59TH MEDICAL WING (WILFORD HALL AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER), Brooke Army Medical Center, Federal Aviation Administration National Transportation Safety Board U.S. Department of Transportation, Aerospace Medical Association *Views are mine and not necessarily those of anyone else or any other organization

In a global collaboration please help to gain critical insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding mental health regulation and support in aviation. Calling all ATC and airline pilot professionals to consider giving 5 minutes to answer this 12-question multiple-choice survey. Your input is invaluable to gather data for a global Pilot and Air Traffic Controller view on how you perceive mental health regulation and support in your aviation world. "For things to get better, things need to change, For things to change, we need data." Please distribute this link by as many channels as you can muster. With ethics oversight by University of Washington. https://lnkd.in/g7RiDTKj William Hoffman, MD, Quay Snyder, Dave Fielding, Peter Whitten Anthony Tvaryanas, Basil Spyropoulos, Wendy Santilhano, Gerhard Fahnenbruck, PhD, Allan Baker, Marc Atherton, Robert Bor, Reyné O'Shaughnessy, Sky Overbo, Brian Bomhoff, Joseph Emerson, Tim Sprott, Kate Manderson, Diego M. Garcia, Rodney Hall, Samantha McBride (B.Sc.hons), Mike Vandini, Janet Taylor, Gerard Forlin KC, Debby Prideaux IPAAC, Aerospace Medicine at Carolina, Clear Skies Ahead, Aerospace Medicine at KCL, Asociación Colombiana de Universidades, Air Line Pilots Association, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Federal Aviation Administration, International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, Flight Safety Foundation, NATA- National Air Transportation Association, International Air Transport Association (IATA), #aviation #airline #airliners #aerospace #airbus #boeing #aircraft #airplane #pilot #airtrafficcontrol #flightcrew #pilots #airtrafficcontrollers #ATCO #safety #flightsafety #aviationsafety #sms #salutogenesis #threatanderrormanagement #mentalhealth #AItools #mentalfitness