But if I were a pilot having to fly over 10 hours, you bet I'd take amphetamines too. Unless they can fit an espresso machine in the cockpit.
Though with planes now, easier to replace have a remote pilot and with that can easily change and negate that entire issue. Or combination of the two with sleep detection alerting a remote pilot to take over with a remote control pilot ability. Certainly one when a fighter pilot ejects in training and can moral feel safe that a remote pilot can fly the plane away from the populus impacting landings.
It's not an FDA warning, it's the FDA being quoted out of context, then implying that it wasn't the pilot's fault because he was on said drug.
Think for a second about how many other pilots were probably also prescribed modafinil.
Truly, it is the pilot's fault. I think it was a freak accident, though. However, not an accident that was probably directly caused by modafinil.
It's not an amphetamine in any sense of the word. Scientists were hesitant to even call it a "stimulant" at first.
It also does not have aggression inducing effects, or a lot of the other negative side effects of amphetamines.