Too Old?

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Tim writes:

Heredity plays an equally important role in all of this - a person's
vulnerability to disease as a result of environmental factors
(smoking, drinking, breathing in asbestos fibers, etc.) is highly
dependent on genetics, as is your likelihood to suffer a stroke from
smoking excessively, or a heart attack from eating too much bacon,
eggs, donuts, etc., or just plain being overweight.

True ... but the FAA doesn't look at that, either.

Where do you draw the line?

My point is that the FAA criteria are badly skewed. Airline pilots
with first-class medicals still drop dead from time to time, and
people who are denied medicals still live to be 95 years old without
ever being suddenly incapacitated by anything.

The FAA criteria seem to be inherited from military test-pilot
programs or astronaut medicals, but they are far too draconian. The
FAA could increase safety a lot more by testing pilot competence more
extensively and forgetting the over-the-top medical criteria. In
fact, the best way to determine pilot aptitude is by testing it
directly, not by inferring it from other information, and since pilots
are tested individually, this is a completely practical goal.


You have no idea what you're talking about.

you are an idiot.


Bertie