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Old September 11th 18, 03:02 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Peter Purdie[_3_]
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Posts: 103
Default Accidents resulting from medical issues

The problem is that incapacitating events are only loosely correlated with

age. Heart attacks can strike apparently fit 30 year olds (one of my
brothers in law is a case in point; ex Royal Marine, age 38, passed a
public
transport driving medical less than a month before dropping dead of a
previously undetected heart problem. The actual number of medical
induced glider accidents is so low that we will never get any statistical
evidence to give a science-based numerical age limit.

My observation is that most ageing pilots do give up gliding when they
decide their reflexes/eyesight or some other reason make them query their
ability to continue. That's typically somewhere between 65 and 80, with
exceptions either side. Personally, I've only been gliding for 58 years
and
still have more to do - until I decide to stop.



At 13:24 11 September 2018, Mike the Strike wrote:
Tough to be aware of an underlying condition that is undiscovered,
symptomless and undiagnosed - perhaps just like the majority of medical
issues that catch you unawares.

Maybe we should all self-ground as we age, but at what age - 65?, 70?,

80?

Mike