pilot death rates

[zonker]

There is now a school of thought that working longer means a longer life for you.

Do they take the short bus to that school?

Let's see, back side of the clock flying, sitting for hours at a time (deep vein thrombosis), 14+ hour duty days... versus living a healthy, stress-free lifestyle and spending time with family and friends.

I'll use common sense before I listen to a medical study.

 

[whymeworry?]

Sorry to burst your bubble but these studies you guys read about dying sooner because of flying to age 65 or just because you are an airline pilot are complete urban legend and shown to be total falsehoods. Dr. Sing Lin's and Cheng's "studies" have now been shown to be total garbage unless you are slaving in some cruel manaul Chinese coal mine.

Many people actually go into decline when they retire. They miss the comraderie, fellowship, friends, and the mental stimulation and sense of purpose of work. There is now a school of thought that working longer means a longer life for you.

http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/health/retirement_age.html

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/empinfo/benefits/pension/seminars/Rumor.pdf

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/4286.html

"I am now 61, forced to retire from the airlines last year, now flying for the U.S. Army. I feel great, love my job, enjoying life and have no intentions of retiring any time soon. Thirty years ago retirement appeared to be the ultimate situation. I tried the retiree lifestyle for about two months, missed flying terribly and discovered that boredom could be a fast track to early death."

Most of us have probably made observations that people who retire early, too often die early. Early retirement clearly appears to be unnatural for healthy people. People tend to deteriorate faster if they stop being productive especially after an active life long profession. “Early Retirement May Mean Earlier Death”--- Primary source: British Medical Journal Source reference: http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/tb/1980
"Age at retirement and long-term survival of an industrial population: prospective cohort study," BMJ, published online Oct. 20, 2005. “…Study found that retiring at age 55 was associated with an almost two-fold greater risk of dying compared with employees who postponed retirement until their 60s…investigators found that embarking on the Golden Years at age 55 doubled the risk for death before reaching age 65, compared with those who toiled beyond age 60…”

You are a product of your own consupmtion. In this case you consume rubbish about mortality rates and thereby suggest you will live longer if you work forever.

People who go into decline once they retire are those who have no life, i.e. they simply sit around in retirement. By contrast, those who make the most of their retirement thrive. But simply working to maintain your mental accuity, and by doing so assuming that will help you live longer, is ignorant.

My neighbor retired 25 years ago. By your logic he should be dead or mentally inept. He attributes his on-going living to the fact that he retired at 55.

 

[Immelman]

I currently pay about 50% more on a term life ins premium because I fly for fun/personally. I am in my mid 20s. I figure the life insurance business has figured this out pretty well.

FWIW, I asked for a quote from a certain company that dealt with pilots (present carrier did not ask so many detailed questions about flying). They wanted to know if I flew aerobatics. When I said yes, the premium went up by a factor of 10. No joke. I have since stopped flying aerobatics and while I miss it... that was eye opening.