Germanwings pilot suicide prompts FAA review of medical test

Washington

THE US government is taking steps that may change the way airlines vet employees for mental illness, a response to the downing of an airplane by a suicidal pilot in France two months ago.

The Federal Aviation Administration has created a panel of government and industry officials to recommend ways to improve the evaluation of pilots' fitness to fly. It is one of the most comprehensive reassessments ever of pilot medical rules, said a source.