Does Airline Pilot Age Rule Need Revisiting?

[jynxyjoe]

You guys wear scarves? That's...special.

(The Navy carrier jab is "How about landing in a crosswind, Your Airworthiness?")

I think the for Air Force you just sit quietly while they talk to you. Eventually they tire out or see something shiny. When they get confused on the PBS system or how logging block to block in their book they'll ask you something.

 

[derg]

Judging from what I read on APC, it usually has to do with someone named "Kernel", something about wearing scarves or ascots, and something to do with "enough about me, let's talk about the jet I used to fly", and something to do with Academy rings and/or what class/squadron at the Academy he/she/it was in.

Seems like plenty fertile ground!

Do you work for delta? Ha!


"On the viper..."

"What, 100 pounds ago?"

 

[Hacker15e]

You guys wear scarves?

Not for about 15 years (unless you were a Thunderbird), but that doesn't seem to stop Anal Naviators from thinking we still do.

 

[USMCmech]

Not for about 15 years (unless you were a Thunderbird), but that doesn't seem to stop Anal Naviators from thinking we still do.

As long as you don't iron your flight suits, you're OK.

 

[Ian_J]

I but I could go get in a UH-60 right now and be through ETL before anybody noticed the logbook was gone.

Oh, crew chiefs. A cool thing about the guard is we get to send some of them to flight school and get them back as pilots. It's fun to see them humbled and their bravado stripped away.

 

[Firebird2XC]

Oh, crew chiefs. A cool thing about the guard is we get to send some of them to flight school and get them back as pilots. It's fun to see them humbled and their bravado stripped away.

Guess we'll never know.

I'm just going on what an IP told me as a point of comparison of the difficulty of flying different airframes.

... and what's a field grade guy doing talking about humility?

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Never should have been changed in the first place. But, unfortunately, it'll never go back.

 

[Boris Badenov]

As long as you don't iron your flight suits, you're OK.

*unplugs iron*. Nothing to see, here.

 

[scooter2525]

Never should have been changed in the first place. But, unfortunately, it'll never go back.

Do you say that because of increased health issues as most people age? Or because of what it did to pilot movement?

 

[pnwchief22]

Too little information on the events preceding the unfortunate passing of the Captain, my one word answer to Forbes headline is.....No

 

[Boris Badenov]

This seems like it could be pretty easily solved by an actuary...the only political question should be "how much risk is too much". Obviously, we're more likely to keel over as we get older, as, IMS, no one gets out alive. And the information couldn't be more accessible. Get some statisticians on it, present the findings, and have an earnest, public conversation on the statistical likelihood of "death behind the yoke" (vs., say, the statistical likelihood of youthful indiscretion or pulling through the pusher and crashing the airplane) Of course that will never happen, because, like most "Safety" arguments, it's not really about Safety at all...at least not the Safety of the passengers.

Personally, I suspect that the benefits of having highly experienced pilots up front far outweigh the possibility that they might meet St. Peter at any given moment, but that's a suspicion, and why trade on that when we have reams and reams of data?

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...ot-drunk-passenger-controls-article-1.1368108

That was in Russia. Everyone is drunk all the time there.

 

[CirrusMonkey]

This is my dad....he was a navy pilot but never flew 121. He is exactly 66 years old. (Way to go Dad, most fit person I know, like 3% body fat or something crazy like that...photo taken last week.) Though, he suffered a heart attack at age 38 while surfing. To echo @ChasenSFO , age is not necessarily the best indicator of health, on EITHER end of the spectrum. My pops is proof. At 38 he could have held a medical and been flying....today, he would apparently be too "old." Not sure what the solution is, there must be some limits, but a blanket rule definitely doesn't cover the outliers.

Your dad is Chuck Norris??

 

[trafficinsight]

Hopefully they enact the minimum age of 1500 rule before anyone else gets hurt.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

Never should have been changed in the first place. But, unfortunately, it'll never go back.

Yep. The Age 65 people used absurd logic to argue the rule change- age discrimination. Logically, had they won it should have been eliminating the rule all together. But, it's the government, logic need not apply...only special interest. Would have been nice not to have a 5 year pause on retirements during the worst recession in 80 years....

 

[Boris Badenov]

Your dad is Chuck Norris??

Seriously. I'll bet tld was home from high school dates ON TIME EVERY TIME.

 

[Lucky8888]

This is my dad....he was a navy pilot but never flew 121. He is exactly 66 years old. (Way to go Dad, most fit person I know, like 3% body fat or something crazy like that...photo taken last week.) Though, he suffered a heart attack at age 38 while surfing. To echo @ChasenSFO , age is not necessarily the best indicator of health, on EITHER end of the spectrum. My pops is proof. At 38 he could have held a medical and been flying....today, he would apparently be too "old." Not sure what the solution is, there must be some limits, but a blanket rule definitely doesn't cover the outliers.

Good for him. That's awesome!

 

[Hacker15e]

As long as you don't iron your flight suits, you're OK.

Just like all of the jokes, that one's rooted in truth, too. The early 1990s, General McPeak-era flight suits actually had a crease sewn in to the front of the legs of the flight suit to imitate the look of if it had been ironed. My understanding is that the folks who wanted that particular modification were the MAC/AMC crews who wore flight suits over their blues and wanted that same blues-trousers look. Bizarre -- nobody I've ever spoken to thought that looked good, or that it was a good idea.

Here's the only photo that I could find of that, a small photo from an eBay auction of one of those old flightsuits:

Personally, in the entirety of the time I've been in the USAF, I've never seen/heard of anyone who irons a flight suit...but, again, the jokes/rumors persist. I'm sure most Navy pilots who've done time on the bo-at haven't been involved in any big homosexual orgies, either, but rumors persist there too....hehe.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Do you say that because of increased health issues as most people age? Or because of what it did to pilot movement?

Both.

 

[USMCmech]

Personally, in the entirety of the time I've been in the USAF, I've never seen/heard of anyone who irons a flight suit...but, again, the jokes/rumors persist.

Me neither, and every one of my interactions with the the air scouts has been a positive experience.

However, at boot camp we have to swear an oath to give the other branches crap at every opportunity.