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Agreed. I have no doubt there are incompetent 60+ yr olds. But these Pilots were almost certainly also incompetent 50+, 40+, 30+ and 20+ yr olds.
I'm another 60+ old fool, but if the problem lies in the (low) standard of recurrent testing, which some on this thread think it does, then the solution surely is to raise the bar for everybody. If that's what is required, then I'm all for it...
I look upon myself as clearly not as sharp as I was 20 years ago, but I have more experience than I had then and in my view it balances out. My body certainly would not wish to be flying (eg) RIO - LONDON non-stop at night any more after 2 weeks of working and playing hard around South America - or 3 night Dalamans in a row. So a couple of years ago I chose to change my lifestyle to a more sedate mode of flying (Corporate). I'm still on a learning curve and will be until the day I finally have to give it up. Of one thing I am certain though - I am definately safer now than I was 35+ years ago as a young F/O on my first jet. You may need to be razor sharp to be top gun or a member of the Red Arrows but to be a good Multi-Crew operator you require - as well as an aptitude for flying - good co-ordination, rational thinking and an ability to prioritize. Above all, you must be dependable, reliable and a good team player.
Perhaps Lambourne and his allies should consider how useful they were when they were beginners at the art. I'm sure that they, like me, owe a huge debt of gratitude to the senior guys who felt it their responsibility to pass on wisdom to inexperienced newcomers. Maybe Lambourne could also learn humility and a lot of other things, since he would appear not to be at home on the flight deck in his current state of mind.
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