The accident rate from 2000-2015 for Pilots with ADHD was 0.18% or statistically unlikely to happen. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28818147/
The NTSB database search for fatal aviation accidents possibly associated with ADHD yielded four accident cases of interest in the United States [4/4894 (0.08%)]. Two of the pilots had ADHD diagnosed by a doctor, one was reported by a family member, and one by a flight instructor. An additional five cases were identified searching for ADD [5/4894 (0.1%)]. Altogether, combined ADHD and ADD cases yielded nine accident cases of interest (0.18%).
The FAA however seems to ignore this information when they published this flawed and biased report with fabricated claims in Jan 2022. https://medium.com/faa/pilots-with-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd-6518967ac46e one of the fabricated claims states pilots with ADHD fail to perform preflight inspections or check the weather. Those pilots would fail to get through flight school let alone pass a checkride.
These claims are about as truthful as the racist claims made in the 1990s by politicians that inner-city youths are predispositioned to become "superpredators" https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/they-were-sentenced-as-superpredators-who-were-they-really/ and https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/561063-black-and-brown-children-are-not-superpredators-and-should-not-spend and https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/07/politics/biden-1993-speech-predators/index.html and https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article247559100.html
Reddit seems to have a similar opinion on the subject. https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/sednwy/can_we_address_the_faas_latest_publication_on_adhd/
This commenter on the thread has gone so far as questioned the validity of the article due to the lack of citations and that the authors don't seem do be real.
OP·1 day ago
>This isn't helping the case of the pilots with ADHD
The article is made with no citations by two guys who don't appear to really exist (there's slightly more on the second author, who graduated in the 70s, but the first is a ghost). They kinda just throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks, probably because they're starting to catch a lot of flack for out of date policies. As such, they don't actually produce any stats beyond the "70%", let alone citations. Yes, in any given sample there will be people who have ADHD drugs in their system. I'll even go so far as to say, it may be elevated, but if they want to categorically exclude everyone in this group they need to prove that it's elevated and to a degree that's unacceptable and we need to have a discussion about what options are available to remedy the issue through medical intervention and training. To draw an analogy, the Mu-2 was a murder machine but rather than just toss the whole fleet, the FAA worked the issue and effectively resolved all safety issues.
> Well yes, but it's also been shown to cause apprehension...
Again, citation needed. To make a categorical exclusion one needs to prove this is categorically true of all ADHD patients *as well as* elevation beyond similar non-excluded conditions/medications etc.
> Consistency is of utmost importance
ADHD isn't like a heart condition, unless you're terrifyingly severe you aren't going to have murder-200-people days. It's just a subtle difference in cognition that causes some prioritization differences. There are much larger factors that will influence one's ability to perform and effect the entire population (IMSAFE, etc). I'd argue ADHD is background noise compared to the actual killers.
I'll add for the sake of discussion, ADHD is very much a spectrum. There are going to be people who are just not functional and will rightfully be denied medicals or certs because the condition is impacting other parts of their lives too severely. The vast majority aren't in this group though.
The "Ghost" is Chris M. Front, Psy.D., is an instrument and multi-engine-rated commercial pilot and clinical psychologist in the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine. He is board certified in assessment psychology.
While a check of the Airman registry does show a Chris Michael Front does indeed have the ratings stated, he is on special issuance, curious as to why. His LinkedIn doesn't show much either. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-front-9118565 Only that he attended Pacific University and has a 1 star review https://www.sharecare.com/doctor/chris-front-35pnt
Randy J. Georgemiller, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist in the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine and is board certified in clinical psychology.
He also only has a 1 star review https://www.healthgrades.com/providers/randy-georgemiller-2l9qm and his Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-georgemiller-phd-abpp-0276a19 seems to show he can't keep a position for more than a few years.
The Reddit Poster brings up the fact this article has ZERO citations and They kinda just throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks, probably because they're starting to catch a lot of flack for out of date policies. Putting out propaganda like this, especially compared to the superpreditor labeling of the 90s should make anyone question the creditability of not only the article but the two psychologists that wrote it.
Chris Front was also the author of the infamous now pulled white paper that said the Cogscreen is 100% accurate page 43 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IKLQwNG5EZYFQQ4sG6JTw2lqSssp9jpk/view When nothing is 100% accurate and with the latest revelations by Senior AME Dr. Brent Blue, is nothing more than a subjectively graded snake oil with a major conflict of interest towards the test creator.
It should be noted just like current FAA administrator Michael Whitaker, Georgemiller is retiring from the FAA before the Trump Administration takes office, probably to avoid having the spotlight of DOGE shined on them over this and getting fired, something that needs to happen to Dr. David O'Brien and Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/randy-georgemiller-phd-abpp-0276a19_as-a-final-chapter-before-retiring-from-the-activity-7269030876875788288-9j3e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
This shows the subjectively graded Cogscreen tests have nothing to do with safety and are really about creating a cottage industry that holds pilots hostage for as much money can be squeezed out of them by dangling the hope with no guarantee of getting their medicals back. Far from it, these trapped pilots are subjectively graded as fails in order to keep them in hostage indefinitely. It's time to let the safest pilots have their unrestricted medicals back without any strings attached and to put these mental health quacks cottage industry of holding pilots hostage out of business.