career pilot mortality

Hootie

Hootie

Old Skool
Does anyone know of any study (maybe alpa) that has been done on pilots that have flown a career in aviation and how long their lifespan was? Or maybe a legacy's pilot group keeps track of that info. I would love to know how a career pilots lifespan has compared so far to a non pilots lifespan. thx
 
if he made it a career...mortality is zero

if he died...it wasn't a full career

i don't know just playing:dunno:
 
Hootie said:
Does anyone know of any study (maybe alpa) that has been done on pilots that have flown a career in aviation and how long their lifespan was? Or maybe a legacy's pilot group keeps track of that info. I would love to know how a career pilots lifespan has compared so far to a non pilots lifespan. thx
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What are you seeking - a measure of how many deaths occur WHILE flying professionally of any kind (121,135, 137, 91)...or simply the average mortality age of pilots that flew for the majority of their work careers?
 
I think he's asking what is the average age at death for air line pilots. I would guess it's in the mid 60's. In other words you work your entire life to enjoy 5 maybe 10 years of retirement. Sign me up.
 
I remember reading statistics on pilot mortality years ago and it was "interesting." If memory serves me, their life span was a bit less than the general population. BUT, as we all know, statistics can be a tricky thing and can be skewed. There could be reasons not related to flying which could explain decreased life span, too. Too much alcohol, partaking in risky activities/hobbies, etc.
 
Not sure...but also the lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits probably enters into the equation as well. What I'd be interested in is the statistics from pilots who flew back in the hay-day of aviation and led some wild lives compared to the pilots today who seem to be concerned about healthy lifestyles. Let's face it, we know more now about what causes premature deaths than we did back then!
 
wheelsup said:
I think he's asking what is the average age at death for air line pilots. I would guess it's in the mid 60's. In other words you work your entire life to enjoy 5 maybe 10 years of retirement. Sign me up.
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Is that really the average age of death for airline pilots?:confused: Wow, I didn't know that.
 
My Grandpa died at 66 of Pancreatic Cancer.

I am not sure if those will hold up though - I think it used to be 65-70 range on average, with night freight going earlier. I would imagine that it had more to do with lifestyle than job choice. Most of his generation were given two cartons of Lucky Strike with the Red Cross care packages in WW2, etc. These guys smoked a lot, drank a lot, ate the wrong foods - basically everything that makes a good life - and paid the price. I don't think I ever saw my Grandpa or any of his friends "work out" except doing manual labor around the airstrip or working on airplanes. I think lifestyle choices played a huge role - you can no longer smoke in a cockpit (unless you are Boris Badenov), and everything is so health-centered now I would imagine the disparity will vanish.
 
I thought drinking was good for you.... ah heck.... now I'm gunna die. :eek:

I gotta call my friends Jack, Evan, Jim, Mr. Woodford, and Johnny and let em know we can't hang out anymore.... :rotfl:
 
Life expectancy depends on the type of flying, cargo certainly is known for taking a toll on you later on. However, it's known that pro pilots have a higher rate of developing cancer. Also we get significantly more exposure to atmospheric radiation than the average person. I wonder why the unions still haven't come up with hazard pay.
 
Qgar said:
Not sure...but also the lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits probably enters into the equation as well. What I'd be interested in is the statistics from pilots who flew back in the hay-day of aviation and led some wild lives compared to the pilots today who seem to be concerned about healthy lifestyles. Let's face it, we know more now about what causes premature deaths than we did back then!
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Pilots are no more unhealthy than any other profession in the past. In fact I would imagine that pilots should have a higher longevity than the general united states male population based off certain specific factors that more frequently occur in the pilot subset, that generally are linked to longer life (college education, higher income, caucasion, lower obesity).
 
Hootie said:
In fact I would imagine that pilots should have a higher longevity than the general united states male population based off certain specific factors that more frequently occur in the pilot subset, that generally are linked to longer life (college education, higher income, caucasion, lower obesity).
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I'd be really interested to see the numbers as well. Part of me thinks that stress and long hours of sitting would really contribute to shorter lifespans, but the general higher income (and associated better medical care) and necessity of passing a medical every year may well override that.
 
Didn't FedEx do a study on this and found that the guys that went back to the FE position rather than retiring at 60 (pre-age adjustment issues) didn't live as long? I think those white octagon-looking things on their lanyards are supposed to monitor radiation, too.
 
Good question. There are a lot of factors: heredity, exercise, diet, sleep, QOL, etc.

Living in base must definitely help (commuting is no picnic). If you're getting a good night's sleep, eating right, and pushing yourself when you work out/exercise, I can't see how that hurts things overall.

Also, how one deals with stress cannot be overlooked.
 
kellwolf said:
Didn't FedEx do a study on this and found that the guys that went back to the FE position rather than retiring at 60 (pre-age adjustment issues) didn't live as long?
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I thought so but couldn't find anything about it when I searched.

Shell Oil also did a study that showed those who retired early (before 60) lived longer.

Not saying we're rats :D but I remember a study from psy classes that indicated older rats who had their sleep schedules changed for one week out of four died sooner than the control group. The same was not true for younger rats if their sleep schedule was normalized (retirement?) as they aged. Seems to fit the airline schedule!
 
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