career pilot mortality

[WacoFan]

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).

Maybe not...but pilots smoked a lot more, probably drank more, had more sex, and basically had LOTS of advantages over todays 121 pilot on top of their stellar pay. I do remember my grandfather saying that he never really got "tired" on trips until the jets appeared and they went from Connies and other prop liners to jets. Although the physical workloads in the propliners where probably more intense, the speed, the complexity, the crossing of multiple time zones quickly, all added up to a more fatiguing day. I know lots of guys that retired on the Connie that still go and turn wrenches and drink coffee at the Save A Connie museum here in KC. It is the guys my Grandpa's era that seemed to die off in the 60-72 range (his career spanned 1953-1984) and the guys at the museum had careers from the mid to late 30s until the early 60's.

 

[MD-80]

I spent 35 years from 1967 to 2001 with TWA flying nothing but jets. I flew my share of all nighters, and flew primarily east and west through several time zones. Early on I tried international to Europe where almost every flight involved all-night legs and crossed many time zones. Most international pilots commuted to their domicile. I found it so tiring that I came back to domestic for the rest of my career.

Throughout my career I heard the stories about how airline pilots only lasted a couple of years after retirement. For some pilots it seemed like their whole life revolved around their job. They had to practically pry these guys out of the cockpit on their last trip, and I think for these guys retirement was not very stimulating. I think this can take a psychological toll that could shorten their lives.

I am 67 now and although I pretty much loved the job throughout the 35 years I have really enjoyed retirement. I have way more activities going than I have time for and no health problems. I am glad that mandatory retirement was at 60 when I retired because if it had been 65 I probably would have felt compelled to stay on.

 

[Van_Hoolio]

I'm actually planning on dying in my early 60's, that way I don't have to save for retirement.

 

[Firebird2XC]

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.

Somebody told me once that Fedex guys have awesome retirement benefits, but few of them get to really use them, as they all seem to kick the bucket just after retirement.

One wonders- long haul flying expose them to more radiation in upper atmospheric regions, or was it just flying on the back of the clock?

 

[granlistillo]

I got 25 years left, and I hope to retire or do something less strenous before that... What's the point??

 

[t-cart]

"Throughout my career I heard the stories about how airline pilots only lasted a couple of years after retirement. For some pilots it seemed like their whole life revolved around their job. They had to practically pry these guys out of the cockpit on their last trip, and I think for these guys retirement was not very stimulating. I think this can take a psychological toll that could shorten their lives."

Excellent point MD-80.

 

[WacoFan]

I think for many there was a detrimental effect on the pysche at being made to leave at 60. My Grandpa was really looking forward to it though. He had his own antique airplanes to maintain and fly, he renewed his CFI and CFII and taught some people how to fly (he loved instructing), and he helped friends restore their airplanes - a Piper Super Cruiser, a Piper Pacer, his own Aeronca Chief, and they built an Acro-Duster. The only thing that would depress him was not having a project on the garage/shop...so he made sure there was always an airplane in some form of undress that he could work on. He still died young, but I think that was a combination of having a really crappy doctor (had bad stomach pain for a month but his buddy the doc told him it was just gallstones probably...after a month he got checked out again and it was pancreatic cancer) and procrastination.

 

[Qgar]

I think for many there was a detrimental effect on the pysche at being made to leave at 60. My Grandpa was really looking forward to it though. He had his own antique airplanes to maintain and fly, he renewed his CFI and CFII and taught some people how to fly (he loved instructing), and he helped friends restore their airplanes - a Piper Super Cruiser, a Piper Pacer, his own Aeronca Chief, and they built an Acro-Duster. The only thing that would depress him was not having a project on the garage/shop...so he made sure there was always an airplane in some form of undress that he could work on. He still died young, but I think that was a combination of having a really crappy doctor (had bad stomach pain for a month but his buddy the doc told him it was just gallstones probably...after a month he got checked out again and it was pancreatic cancer) and procrastination.

Sadly, my mom's story was the same. She had a history of colitis, though, so stomach pain wasn't new to her. It was a different pain and enough for her to complain about, but the doctor took too long to diagnose it properly.

I guess the lesson to the both of us, Jim, is to be verrrry tuned into any stomach problems we may encounter down the line. Mom was the first one in the family to have cancer of any kind and I'm not sure if her colotitis, or more likely, her diabetes contributed to it. Either way, that's a scary one with no signals until it's too late.

 

[granlistillo]

"Throughout my career I heard the stories about how airline pilots only lasted a couple of years after retirement. For some pilots it seemed like their whole life revolved around their job. They had to practically pry these guys out of the cockpit on their last trip, and I think for these guys retirement was not very stimulating. I think this can take a psychological toll that could shorten their lives."

Excellent point MD-80.

Similar story I have heard about the Navy. I hear a lot of chiefs retire to the Phillipines after 20-25 yrs, and are dead within 3 years.

 

[KLB]

I think those white octagon-looking things on their lanyards are supposed to monitor radiation, too.

It measures the exposure to radiation due to the radioactive material that they carrymonthly. I wear one myself.

 

[thepedroid]

It measures the exposure to radiation due to the radioactive material that they carrymonthly. I wear one myself.

How often and what kind of radio active materials do freight dawgs usually carry? I always knew about the radiation levels from being at altitude but never thought about the cargo you carry.