Lobby for Age 70!

[Mamma]

How bout an f-in weight limit?

I agree that being a fat pilot is not cool but the only limits on weight should be with the FAs. They should be discriminated against for age and size. I say size 6 and age 26. Then buh-bye! Just a thought.

 

[waveflyer]

How bout an f-in weight limit?

Seriously... Right?

For flt attendants too....

No age limit is fine- but I had to wait til 23 to get an ATP even though my seniority would have held the left seat- so I think there should be an upper limit for captains as well- let them decay in the right seat where they'll have an experienced captain who can watch them

 

[waveflyer]

I agree that being a fat pilot is not cool but the only limits on weight should be with the FAs. They should be discriminated against for age and size. I say size 6 and age 26. Then buh-bye! Just a thought.

Nice! Good timing Mamma!

- except some of the sexiest flt attendants I've had have been in the +/-40 range- I wouldn't trade them for any 20 something who hasn't learned a proper blowjob yet.... Or who doesn't have the guts to ask for what she wants...Just sayin- I'm not as into teaching as much as I once was

 

[pipejockey]

Hi!

The FAA has compared the accident rate, per 100,000 hours of flying, for age 60-65 pilots, and compared it to age <=60 pilots. Age 61-65 have the lowest accident rate.

Now that we have -121 pilots over age 60, we can now compare the -121 61-65, with the -121 <=60. I am almost 100% sure that the -121 study(ies) will corroborate the earlier studies, and the 61-65 pilots will be safest.

Pipejockey was making up a bunch of generalizations and stereotyping the over 60 guys. Not very nice!

cliff
LFW

I wasn't stereotyping or generalizing anything! I have flown with these old buzzards who have among other things, walked out of the cockpit with an engine running after having indicated that it was off during the appropriate checklist leaving me to cover their sorry a**(I guess they must leave the car running when they get home as well), forgetting to have the 2nd engine started when within moments from being cleared for takeoff leaving me to cover their a** again because they forgot to finish completing the taxi ck. list, lining up on the wrong runway on approach, etc etc etc. If they want to stay flying past 60, boot them over to the right seat! They have no business being in charge at such an advanced age.

 

[pipejockey]

How bout an f-in weight limit?

Exactly!! Some of these guys are so out of shape they could never egress out the cockpit window in the event of an emergency. Not to mention looking totally unprofessional.

 

[C-150ETOPS]

pipejockey,

I'm in total agreement. I've posted on this board in the past about flying Part 135 jet charter with 5 seperate 60+ guys and how basically 3 out of 5 sucked and showed signs of aging. Did it sway the old goats here? Not a bit. They're like drunks who think they are good enough to drive.
I've also posted about my experiences flying with many nearing age 60 at my airline. The deterioration was uneven of course. The minority were sharp as any 20 year old with the judgement of experience along with being in excellent shape. The rest had started the slide.
I've also started seeing the slide in a few FO's nearing age 60. Everything seems to happen slower with them. A simple transition in in reading a checklist down low to moving a switch in the overhead panel seems to take forever although it's OK for a checkride.

The guys throwing the responsibility here are abject fools or not really commercial pilots. We all know that AME's run mills that cannot test the cognitive skills even if they were threatened with jail. Even the Mayo clinic would have a tough time catching a geezer who games the tests.

The other issue is checkrides. Old guys get their sim checks at 10 am on a canned profile that is well know in advanced and practiced for the previous days after getting a good nights rest along with a nice cup of coffee in the brief. I am well versed on the effects of a 15 hour day with some codger trying to fly a NDB approach in a Lear 25 at 2:30 am into a snowy county airport.

Everybody starts the mental and physical slide. It sucks. I've seen it in fellow pilots and family members. Arbitrary numbers are a fact of life in every facet of society.

 

[mozzer]

Until an extremely extensive cognitive and reflex test is done in order to pass a medical for these 60+ year old ancients, it would be foolhardy to increase this age yet again. Or even worse, have no limit at all. These old guys move like they are in slow motion, and their minds often times get like mush. They just can't respond appropriately in an at times, extremely fast paced and stressful environment.

Well they shouldn't be down at the hotel bar anyway!

 

[cldsfr79]

I don't think there should be any mandatory retiremnt age. I think the AME should be held acountable for issueing a medical.

I'm sensing sarcasm but we do have this issue over in the 135 industry. There are some 70+ers. Just as long as they keep seeing "Dr. Hand Shake" they keep flying. Never mind that some can't hear that well, can't really see as well even with their glasses and some appear to fall asleep in cruise.

 

[relief tube]

don't know about you all, but I like being home....and apparently Im one of the few airline pilots that has hobbies. If I'm 55 and I have enough to retire, I can't wait to open up a spot for someone else.

I'll spend 5 mins a week while Im waiting for the tee time to read boards about current pilots bitching about everything.

 

[jtf]

I've flown with lots of guys over 60 and haven't seen any problems with any of them. The bad pilots I've flown with come from 20s to 50s. I'm sure there are plenty of crappy 60+ year old pilots, but there are plenty of crappy pilots at every age category. I have another 30 or so years of flying left and I don't mind the old dudes- they have the experience edge that can usually make up for the lost quickness that is almost never needed in this job unless you are a fighter pilot or something. Almost every emergency situation we all train for requires the pilot to calmly fly the airplane and fix the problem. Modern aircraft are almost made for monkeys to fly. The ugliest V1 cuts I've ever seen are routinely younger pilots. I much prefer the old guys experience to keep my butt out of trouble. There are almost always 2 of us in the cockpit and I defy ANY of you to say you haven't made a mistake that the other guy didn't point out at one time or another. It is your job to keep an eye on the other pilot no matter how old he or she is. Pretty much every mistake quoted in this thread that an old guy supposedly made I have watched young guys make. I would support a more stringent medical for those over 60, but for myself I want the decision to retire to be MY choice and nobody else's. Pensions are almost gone already and most of us better pray they let us fly until we die unless somehow we are able to collectively get the pay back to levels that allow a good life before and during retirement. Good luck with that the way things are looking. I'm sorry if this harms younger pilots on furlough and younger pilots who can't upgrade (including me), but that's part of the game.