TTT,
As we get older, we are at risk of more sudden, unexpected and potentially incapacitating illnesses which are not all likely to show up on Class 1 medicals (unless they start routine CAT scans, and angiograms), so there has to be some sort of age cut off doesn't there??
On what do you base this - gut instinct, personal feeling or medical research? This correspondence between the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the FAA seems to refute that:
Discussion on Raising Pilot Retirement age in USA Particularly:
As with age 60, there is no credible medical, scientific or aviation evidence to suggest that concerns for safety require a mandatory retirement age for pilots of 65. Raising the age limit to 65, however, will serve as a useful transitional step, allowing commercial pilots to continue flying beyond age 60 while the FAA plans a full transition to individualized testing of the skills and health of all pilots, regardless of age.
Moreover, far from being a liability, having older pilots in the cockpit may enhance aviation safety, as the practical experience of these pilots has great value in a profession calling for complex and split-second judgments.
This is also borne out by findings, published in the February 27, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology:
The study's results come as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers a proposal to raise the mandatory age of retirement for commercial airline pilots to 65 from the current age of 60.
For the study, researchers tested 118 non-commercial airline pilots, age 40 to 69, annually for three years. All pilots were currently flying, had between 300 and 15,000 hours of total flight time, and had a FAA medical certificate. Pilots were tested on accuracy of executing communications, traffic avoidance, scanning cockpit instruments to detect emergencies, and executing a visual approach landing.
The study found while older pilots initially performed worse than younger pilots, older pilots showed less of a decline in overall flight summary scores than younger pilots, and over time their traffic avoidance performances improved more than that of younger pilots. The study also found pilots with advanced FAA pilot ratings and certifications showed less performance decline over time, regardless of age.
"These findings show the advantageous effect of prior experience and specialized expertise on older adults' skilled cognitive performances," said study author Joy L. Taylor, PhD, with the Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center in Palo Alto, California. "Our discovery has broader implications beyond aviation to the general issue of aging in the workplace and the objective assessment of competency in older workers."
Researchers suggest that pilots with advanced FAA pilot ratings may maintain performance over time due to a mechanism of preserved task-specific knowledge, known as crystallized intelligence, which is similar to what is seen in music or expert chess playing.
The study was supported by the Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, the Medical Research Service of the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the National Institute on Aging.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Academy of Neurology.
There is indeed evidence published to show that as one gets older there is more chance of an incapacitating illness, but an Israeli Air force study seems to think that fatal accidents due to human error are far more than those due to pilot incapacity and inexperienced pilots have a 2 - 3 times greater incidence of accidents due to pilot error. A balanced crew with a younger pilot with better health and faster reflexes, coupled with the greater experience of an older pilot probably provides the safest 2 crew flight regime:
The epidemiology of sudden death, the etiology of inflight sudden incapacitation, and the influence of pilot age and experience on air accident rates are reviewed in order to determine the aeromedical emphasis needed to minimize accidents. Sudden deaths in men over age 35 are nearly all due to coronary artery disease, whereas in those under 35 years they are mostly due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The incidence of fatal accidents from human error is, however, far greater than that from physical illness. Since inexperienced pilots have a 2-3 times increased incidence of mishaps due to pilot error, the estimated risk of disease related in-flight sudden incapacitation should be balanced by consideration of pilot experience. Therefore, it may be preferable to grant waivers to experienced pilots with an increased incidence of disease-related inflight sudden incapacitation than to replace them with novices. We conclude that overly strict medical criteria may paradoxically increase accident rates.
Here's a questionnaire ICAO sent out to member states when it was considering the change:
ICAO Position on Age In fact CASA in response to the questionnaire said:
... with respect to whether the [older] pilots have significantly more medical problems ...., we would say a
qualified yes. The qualification is that incidence of medical problems rises from about the age of 45, not from
60. CASA medical certification data do not show that incapacitation as a medical problem is more significant
for pilots older than 60 years compared to those under 60 years.
Canada
So based on this maybe we should stop all pilots over the age of 45 flying with another pilot who has already attained the age of 45!
Finally, the ICAO secretariat commented:
SECRETARIAT’S COMMENTS
Australia points to the well-known fact that the incidence of medical problems [in the population at large]
increases with age and becomes significant much earlier than at age 60, usually already after the fourth
decade. Canada emphasizes that airline pilots as a group are healthier than the background population owing
to close medical surveillance and elimination from the group of those with serious diseases. New Zealand
considers the accident rates too low for the age of the pilots involved to have any statistical significance. The
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has observed no change in safety record and competence in
older pilots when compared with their younger colleagues. The Secretariat agrees fully with the viewpoints
presented by Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The information provided by the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States is corroborated by the answers from a large majority of the States that have
replied to the State letter. Mongolia is the only State indicating a “not good” experience with older pilots.
This is difficult to understand as Mongolia also indicates fewer incidents and accidents involving older pilots
and even state that their older pilots have the same incidence of medical problems as other pilots. Moreover,
this State has currently no active pilots above the age of 57 years. Slovakia is the only State indicating that
older pilots have more incidents and accidents than their younger colleagues. Even so, Slovakia states that
its experience with older pilots is good.
The full final report of the member states to ICAO before it revised the age rule can be found at:
Age 60 Rule - Full Analysis Hope that helps
