Help! My Friends' Son With ADHD Wants To Be a Pilot

I'm friends with an older gay couple who have 2 adopted sons who are brothers and both have ADHD. The youngest son was diagnosed pretty early while in elementary school. He recently turned 17 and he's had dreams of becoming a professional pilot for a few years now, in fact he's obsessed with flying. My friends are supportive of his choice of profession, in fact they've let him enroll in aviation classes geared towards teens. However, I recently found out that they (my friends, the son) had been downplaying his ADHD because he's currently not on any meds, I think for 3-4 months now. I don't know if he's not on meds because they're prohibited for pilots especially professional pilots because he has that goal in mind, or if he's truly off meds because he doesn't need them anymore. I suspect it's the former, and I'd voiced my concern to my friends, but they just brush it aside without much reassurance. I know they love him and want to support his dreams but I just have a foreboding sense that nothing good will come out of it.

JFK Jr's ADHD probably played a part in his death from plane crash. I know pilots can't get FAA license with ADHD diagnosis and taking meds, but really how stringent is that standard? Is it something that can be easily bypassed if you don't volunteer that information? It's quite scary.

We’ve met Colton and Packer before.

Eh, if he cant concentrate while flying in the simulator, he'll be flunked.

And it is possible for kids to have fewer symptoms of ADHD with age, and it's also possible for a young child who's a pain in the ass to be misdiagnosed and put on meds. All children with ADHD are pains in the ass, but not all children who are pains in the ass have ADHD.

If he really wants to be a pilot (or anything else) the ADHD will probably disappear.