Page 34 - April24T

“You’re a Really Good Pilot...For Your Age”
Those words were spoken by Gregg Brightwell, my simulator instructor in the Citation Mustang. It was ear- ly in 2019, and I had just completed my 61.58 check at FlightSafety in Wichita, Kansas. I wasn’t sure exactly what to think.
What did he mean by “for your age?”
I was sixty-eight years old at the time. I thought I was at the top of my game. But Gregg had the advantage of seeing hundreds of pilots come through the simulator doors every year. He could see how age and performance were sometimes related.
So, when are you “too old” to fly?
I returned to FlightSafety recently for another 61.58. It’s a fairly demanding multi-day test of your flying skills. I normally train every six months, but due to an instructor shortage, it had been a year since my last test.
To say the least, I was anxious. And with the sale of my Mustang, it had been months since I was in the left seat of any airplane. I scheduled an extra simulator session before my class began. The first few minutes were not pretty. But slowly, it came back. I passed.
We all have pilot friends both younger and older than us. Some we wouldn’t dare allow our family to fly with us. Others, we wouldn’t give it a second thought. But our decisions are seldom based on age alone.
Of course, we all decline at somewhat different rates. Aviation insurance underwriters have decided, however, that from about age seventy, we are patently unhealthy and a much greater risk to insure. And by age seventy- five, we might as well hang up flying anything with a turbine engine. Most of their data probably comes from auto accident rates. What about older pilots who still have what it takes? There doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to reward great genetics, diet and exercise, or increased training into the risk equation.
The authorities have figured out how to penalize a pilot who just might be a tick slow, though.
Upon arrival for his annual physical, a friend was admin- istered a psychological test by his AME. Perhaps the one where you count backwards from one hundred by three or try to remember several words from a story. Certainly, all great examples of important skills we use when flying.
Really?
He failed and is now struggling to get his medical back. And while the AME’s deci- sion may be the correct one, shouldn’t we also have some mechanism to help older, healthy pilots obtain insurance instead of being automatically denied?
Ironically, a bill before Congress is be- ing debated that would extend the manda- tory airline retirement age from sixty-five to sixty-seven.
Will those grey-haired captains just be- come medically fit by the stroke of a pen?
Something to think about. Fly safe.
On Final
by David Miller
David Miller has owned and flown a va- riety of aircraft from light twins to midsize jets for more than 50 years. With 6,000 plus hours in his logbook, speaks nationally and writes on a variety of aviation safety topics. You can contact David at davidmiller1@ sbcglobal.net.
David in the simulator.
32 • TWIN & TURBINE / April 2024