Age 60 informal poll

[b757driver]

Stirring the Pot more....

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Media Contact: Robin Stinnett, (651) 695-2763, [email protected]

Does Age Affect a Pilot’s Ability to Fly?

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2007

ST. PAUL, Minn – EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2007 Media Contacts: Angela Babb, [email protected] , (651) 695-2789 Robin Stinnett, [email protected], (651) 695-2763

Does Age Affect a Pilot’s Ability to Fly? ST. PAUL, Minn – Older pilots performed better over time than younger pilots on flight simulator tests. Researchers say the findings, published in the February 27, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, show expert knowledge may offset the impact of old age in some occupations.

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.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com

 

[Dizel8]

Just say NO to age 65!

 

[airfogey]

Watch, APA change their tune if American's A plan goes away--its never been about safety, past present or future.
Airfogey

 

[pilotyip]

rasie it to 66 SSN retirement age.

 

[Dizel8]

Lower the SS retirement age for pilots, after all, the goverment decided on the age, don't let them penalize us for their choice.

 

[Flyby1206]

“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.

It is obvious that you gain experience proportional with the amount of time in the cockpit, but would it be safe to have a 59yr old newhire FO and have him/her upgrade to CA without decades of experience to rely upon? I know that they have many regional carriers with quick upgrades, but the pilots are mostly in the 25-45 age range and can use their faster reflexes to make up for a lack of judgement.

 

[districtpilot]

yes 65

 

[vtwo]

I agree. It's all about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

 

[luckytohaveajob]

It was never about safety, it was about geting rid of high paid pilots in 1958

Because in 1958 the old DC6/7 pilots did not have the abilities to fly the new jets and CR Smith knew it. The psychology study just posted proved that you can not teach an old dog new tricks.

And the MD80 presents the flying public with the same problems we had in 1958. American has over 388 MD80s with old timers who will be dangerous in the new Boeing models as they lack that prior experience. Their minds are not crystallized concerning the new technology after 20 years in the 27 and 80.

 

[pilotyip]

back to vtwo. it is all about meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[pilotyip]

Flying until I am 69 now

RESEARCH BODES WELL FOR OLDER PILOTS
Research shows you can teach an old pilot new tricks. A study published in the February issue of Neurology showed that expert knowledge may offset the impact of old age in some occupations. Researchers tested 118 pilots, aged 40 to 69, in a flight simulator on an annual basis for three years. All the pilots were currently flying, had medical certificates, and had between 300 and 15,000 hours of flight time. They were tested on communications, traffic avoidance, instrument scanning, emergency detection, and visual approaches. While older pilots initially performed worse than younger pilots, older pilots showed less of a decline in overall flight summary scores. They also improved more than younger pilots when it came to traffic avoidance. Pilots with advanced ratings and certificates also showed less of a performance decline over time, regardless of age. This is known as "crystallized intelligence," also seen in music and expert chess playing. The AOPA Air Safety Foundation is commissioning its own study where it will look at a broader age range—including those older than 69.

 

[Flopgut]

Three heart attacks at CAL in the last 45 days. Two resulted in diverts, one happened on a jetway. Sadly, one perished.

You want to know how the churn and turmoil of the last 6 years manifests itself 20 years down the road? Look at CAL. Two Bks, a strike, multiple mergers 20 years ago; guys and gals went thru he!!. Not a good thing. Pretty short sighted to be thinking changing retirement age is automatically a good decision.

 

[pilotyip]

how old were the HA?

 

[Flopgut]

The one in the jetway was 58 yrs, 10 months. He lived and is not doing too good, but improving. One divert was the very unfortunate gentleman who died, and I think his age was reported on here (I don't have it in front of me). The third, also was a divert, happened to a guy that had about 24+ years at CAL (I'm estimating). The third one has not been widely reprted, but the guys is going to live.

They've all had a lot of years at CAL. Which means they've had terrible work rules and been rode hard and put up wet. Now every airline has the same basic work rules so we should be able to see where this is going, right? Wrong, we think the answer is working longer! Well, really the only pilots who think it's a good idea are the ones with sufficient seniority to insulate them from the work rules. Coincidentally, they have the best remaining pay and vacations.

You starting to see who the greedy ones are Yip?

 

[pilotyip]

In the words of Mike Douglas "Greed is good"