Here we go with another age battle.
I decided to look through the NTSB archives in accidents involving pilot incapacitation. Search included dates from 1993 to present and for the search criteria I just typed "pilot incapacitation". Reports involved all categories of aircraft including helicopters. I found over 50+ incidents of pilot incapacitation.
And what were the results? The vast majority of incidents showed pilots of the age 60+ dying in flight do to heart attacks and strokes. Many accidents sited undiagonsied issues. I'm glad the AME doctor "Dr. Handshake" does a great job. To bad the primary care doctors aren't used when you get older to find health issues. There was another sizable percentage of pilots over the age of 50 dying in flight. And how about the young pilots (under the age of 40)? Less than a handful. I guess the myth about older people not having health issues has been settled.
And this search doesn't include pilots of the age 60+ who were spatially disoriented, confused or using poor decision making (definitions used by the NTSB as contributing factors to an accident).
This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.
One accident that involves a pilot, who was 66, said to the controller "my defibrillator just went off on me."....the pilot declared "mayday" and reported that he was losing his eyesight.
Or the 64 year old instructor who had a seizure due to a brain swell from undiagnosed cancer. Sadly the NTSB concluded that his seizing body blocked the flight controls and the student was unable to recover the plane.
Speaking honestly and not humorously, I do worry about the guy sitting next to me who is in their late 60s. I hope he is healthy, that he isn't hiding health problems, and that he doesn't slump against the controls on short final if he passes.
Does the FAA deny that there is a problem or issue? Yes. I have been active in writing the FAA and senators about the issue. All the replies are that the FAA says pilots, regardless of age, are healthy, fit, and have no issues. They went on to say that elderly individuals as a whole have no problem with motor skills, memory, or cognitive activity. Going on, the FAA says that they will catch those who hide medical problems. Further, they say that they don't have any intention of ever having a retirement age for part 135 flying. I'm glad that the FAA doesn't have a "tombstone" mentality about regulating and that they read medical journals about aging individuals.
Again, not joking: We'll have to wait until a high profile accident that takes out a famous person or politician which involves pilots well over 65 to have any type of change. I can see it now: Wolf Blitzer in the Situation room running the story, "Elderly pilots flying high performance turbojets...are we safe"?
I decided to look through the NTSB archives in accidents involving pilot incapacitation. Search included dates from 1993 to present and for the search criteria I just typed "pilot incapacitation". Reports involved all categories of aircraft including helicopters. I found over 50+ incidents of pilot incapacitation.
And what were the results? The vast majority of incidents showed pilots of the age 60+ dying in flight do to heart attacks and strokes. Many accidents sited undiagonsied issues. I'm glad the AME doctor "Dr. Handshake" does a great job. To bad the primary care doctors aren't used when you get older to find health issues. There was another sizable percentage of pilots over the age of 50 dying in flight. And how about the young pilots (under the age of 40)? Less than a handful. I guess the myth about older people not having health issues has been settled.
And this search doesn't include pilots of the age 60+ who were spatially disoriented, confused or using poor decision making (definitions used by the NTSB as contributing factors to an accident).
This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.
One accident that involves a pilot, who was 66, said to the controller "my defibrillator just went off on me."....the pilot declared "mayday" and reported that he was losing his eyesight.
Or the 64 year old instructor who had a seizure due to a brain swell from undiagnosed cancer. Sadly the NTSB concluded that his seizing body blocked the flight controls and the student was unable to recover the plane.
Speaking honestly and not humorously, I do worry about the guy sitting next to me who is in their late 60s. I hope he is healthy, that he isn't hiding health problems, and that he doesn't slump against the controls on short final if he passes.
Does the FAA deny that there is a problem or issue? Yes. I have been active in writing the FAA and senators about the issue. All the replies are that the FAA says pilots, regardless of age, are healthy, fit, and have no issues. They went on to say that elderly individuals as a whole have no problem with motor skills, memory, or cognitive activity. Going on, the FAA says that they will catch those who hide medical problems. Further, they say that they don't have any intention of ever having a retirement age for part 135 flying. I'm glad that the FAA doesn't have a "tombstone" mentality about regulating and that they read medical journals about aging individuals.
Again, not joking: We'll have to wait until a high profile accident that takes out a famous person or politician which involves pilots well over 65 to have any type of change. I can see it now: Wolf Blitzer in the Situation room running the story, "Elderly pilots flying high performance turbojets...are we safe"?