Age and pilot performance.

Abstract

In military and civilian aviation, pilot age is a major factor which determines if the individual is allowed to continue flying. Many factors, including legal considerations, escalating personnel and training costs, and higher skill levels necessitated by increasing equipment complexity, have generated considerable interest in the development of "age free" criteria to determine continued suitability for aviation duty. Central to this issue is a demonstration that older pilots are not necessarily unsafe pilots. Naval Safety Center data relating mishap rates and causal factors to pilot age are presented and policy implications discussed. Results indicate that there are significant differences in mishap rates and mishap causal factors as a function of age, but these differences are not those which might be expected based on a knowledge of the aging literature.