There is no doubt this is a lost cause. First, I am off the big jets and glad of it. I still fly small airplanes. I have lots of flight time and most of it in heavy jets. I agree that age is not a determination, of itself, in skills and ability to use those skills but...
I have seen lots of guys deteriorate as they grew older but they either were not aware of it or didn't care. My family had to intervene to get my father to stop flying. He was a bright guy and a good pilot - once.
In the past, the age 60 was a filter that took everyone out even if you still were (or thought you were) Skyler King. Unfair to some. But it did get the guys out before they started to be a problem. Which brings me to my point.
Most of the stuff on airplanes is time limited. We don't wait for generators or pumps to fail. We replace it at a defined time point. Even the airplane itself has to have a C check eventually. We don't wait for stuff to fail in aviation before replacement. Well, in the past we didn't. I guess now it's OK to do that with the guy in the left seat.
I know - in the past it was heresy to suggest a great airline might screw a Captain (with 2 wives on "maintenance" and another on the patio, a mortgaged motor home, summer house, and primary residence, 2 kids in college, and a failed Christmas tree farm) out of his earned retirement. Times change I guess.
Lovely picture. The aging old guy hoping no one finds out about his medical condition and a 300 hour wunderkind in the right seat hoping the autopilot doesn't quit and terrified the old fart will make him fly the visual approach.
Last edited by Plectron; 22nd Oct 2011 at 12:43.
Reason: spelling