Ian and age
Hi today's ppruners,
I confirm Ian's notes on today's hearing.
Dr Perry is one of the most experienced 'grass roots' AMEs in the UK, maybe in the world. He certainly is used in a consultant capacity by many world organisations. I therefore found it particularly distasteful that the CAA's selected lawyer, chose to conduct a character demolition in an effort to cast doubt on his expert evidence.
Wouldn't it have been nice IF the authority took a different tack and listened and attempted to learn from a medical examiner who probably has as much 'coalface' experience of pilots health as anyone in the industry. Dr Ian thinks it may be circa 60,000 pilot medicals in total.
Were I the Tribunal Chairman, I'd want to listen to an industry acknowledged expert with a massive field of experience behind him rather than the statements of experts of less grass root experience ... who simply produced reams of unsupported facts and figures.
Yes, the legally enforcable EASA rules take effect on 18th March and while this does not affect Ian's case which has to be retrospective, it may well be that under the new regime, the present 'age discrimination' is gone anyway.
It seems to me that our CAA have been less than attentive to this issue over the years, simply carrying on, dinosaur like, with a rule that dates from the 1960s and wasn't even decided for medical reasons. A line in the sand was drawn at age 60 and has been doggedly supported since.
As many of you will know, I have a particularly nasty personal experience of this dinosaur, wait & see attitude, which due to a lack of any responsible action, ultimately resulted in the mid air break up of a Hughes 300.
Today I learned more details of further medical tests that are available, beyond the present 'stress ECG' which I am supposed to call an 'exercise ECG.' But I have never been one for changing perception by use of a different name.
But there are a progression of more accurate medicals available and which have been available for some time. For my part, IF I feel so sure I am medically safe and physically competent to fly at 75, I'd be happy to take and pay for the more rigorous medical and with more frequency. Pre age 60, I have never been offered or advised of such testing.
What I am saying is that instead of solidly pushing for an out of date and arbitrary age limit, our authority could invest a similar amount of time and money in investigating the position as we have it in 2008, and paying more attention to other states such as the USA, Germany, Australia, where there is twenty times as much data available and where the age limit has been upped to a political nudge at age 65.
But I take the view that it isn't sensible even here to fix any brick wall age limit ... it's about time the world's facts were heeded and a pilot ... 'fit for purpose' medical check was employed.
Safety is always a difficult area and it is all too easy to keep the head below the parapet, but I expect our Authority to take a better lead in this area.
On my taxi ride to the station and home, I outlined the aviation age principle to my driver. His immediate response was ... if his industry was deprived of their earnings by such leglislation, he'd have them all out on strike! Apparently he sits on one of the Taxi Driver's committees.
Friday will be for final summaries. The age discrimination principle here is so simple, although it is based on many factors. I can see Ian saying all that needs to be said in thirty minutes. I'll be surprised if the CAA team manage theirs in less than four or five hours!
Finally let no-one fail to appreciate the difficulty of the task for the Tribunal.
If Ian's case succeeds ... What will be our Airlines view? ... Having been obliged to retire experienced pilots at sixty... then having to pay for the training of their replacements.
Then there is the army of pilots like myself alongside Ian, who similarly could demonstrate and claim a massive financial loss. (I guess the PT pilot I needed to hire, cost my firm shall we say, a dozen years at £45,000 per year or so!
Whatever, I feel sure the wisdom of the Tribunal as I saw it, will prevail.
So once again, if you feel you can make it to Kingsway on Friday, lend Ian your support. Victory House, 34 Kingsway, London. Appropriately ... opposite the CAA Building!
Safe flying to you all out there,
Dennis Kenyon.