FoxHunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2002
- Posts
- 679
SECRETARIAT'S COMMENTS
While IAASM fully supports ICAO reviewing the current upper age limit for pilots at this time and AsMA simply states that available medical evidence is insufficient to support restrictions based on age alone, IATA recommends that the age limit be increased to 65 years for pilots engaged in multi-crew operations with the proviso thatthe other member/s of the flight crew are younger than 60 and that older pilots undergo medical examinations every six months. IFALPA, however, believes that the upper age limit for pilots must remain at 60, because this limit has stood the test of time and no change is currently warranted. IFALPA argues that the upper age limit of 60 is a safety requirement and [therefore] should not be changed for current economic, political or legal reasons. In principle, the Secretariat is in agreement with this position, but considers that the age limit should not normally be changed or maintained forreasons other than technical reasons related to flight safety. However, if desirable for social, economic or other reasons and if possible without adverse effect on safety, a change may well be considered. IFALPA further argues that it has been determined that safety considerations and scientific research dictate that no change to the 60 year upper age limitis warranted at this time. The Secretariat is not aware of any study indicating a significant increase in risk to flight safety posed by older airline pilots. On the contrary, both the previous (from 1995) and the present ICAO survey of relevant experience accumulated in recent years in Contracting States indicate thatolder pilots do not present any particular risk to flight safety. Neither is the Secretariat aware of scientific research that dictates the maintenance of the current upper age limit. On the contrary, studies conducted in Japan (1990) and United States (1993) both gave indication that pilots' retirement age could safely beincreased by severalyears, and a very recent study of 165 commuter aircraft accidents in the United States between 1983 and 1997 points to no notable differences between the age groups except that the percentage of crashes involving pilot error decreased somewhat with age, being lowest for pilots between 58 and 63. The over-all conclusion was that neither the prevalence nor the pattern of aircraft accidents change significantly as age increases from the 40s to the 50s and early 60s. In another recent study in the United States, a cohort of more than 3 300 commuter and air taxi pilots, who were between 45 and 54 years old in 1987, were followed for eleven years. No age-related increase in crash risk was shown, butthe risk of crash decreased by half among pilots with more than 5 000 flying hours at baseline. In Japan, in a study of its 60-63 year-old airline pilots, it was found that none had been involved in an accident during the ten-year study period (1992-2001) while during the same period 323 accidents including twenty-seven airline accidents had been reported to the authorities. The purpose of simulator checks, line flying checks and regulatory health examinations is to contain the risk of pilot ‘failure' during the period of validity of the rating or medical certificate;it appears from available evidence that such checks do ensure adequate protection of flight safety for those aged under 60 years. The Secretariat knows of no reason to believe that they will fail to do so for those aged 60 to 64 years. Moreover, there is still today, as stated by AsMA, insufficient medical evidence to support any restrictions based on age alone. In the JAA countries, the upper age limit of 60 has been maintained for pilots in single-crew operations, but since 1 July 1999, the JAA regulations have allowed airline pilots to continue flying until age 65 with limitation to multi-crew operations and with the proviso thatno other member of the flight crew is older than 59. However, the Secretariat is aware that this proviso was not based on medical grounds but rather the result of a compromise between the different parties. Although recommended by IATA, the Secretariat does not consider this proviso safety relevant for the following reason: For the individual pilot engaged in multi-crew operations, it is today generally accepted that a medical incapacitation risk of one percent per annum ("The 1% Rule") is fully compatible with the desired flight safety level for airline operations. This risk levelcorresponds to one medical incapacitation per 100 years or approximately one million hours. Male pilots from Scandinavia, United Kingdom and North-America are likely to approach this risk level when they are around 65, female pilots three to four years later. The risk of two older pilots becoming medically incapacitated at the same time, during the same one-hour flight, is thus one per trillion hours (1 trillion = 1012 or one million × one million), a risk so low that it can safely be disregarded.
