When is an airline pilot too old.

A good friend, Steve, who is an airline pilot, commented on a heart attack suffered by an airline pilot on a flight recently.  He expressed concern about the age of retirement for pilots suggesting that the age should be lowered.

Speaking as an older person, we are all vulnerable, Steve.  A friend of mine in apparent good health, and having passed a medical examiner certificate test, dropped dead in the landing of the company I was working for at the time.  He was 34.  I am always conflicted when I get to the airport and see who will be the pilot on my flight.  On the one hand I am happy to see a young person, hoping their reactions are great, or the older person who instills confidence that he or she will know what to do in an emergency.  I remember seeing a fellow by the name of Bob Hoover, a WWII test pilot and the guy in the inset picture, perform at an air show.  He piloted a two engine plane with engines turned off and put the plane in a dive from a few thousand feet and did a loop about 100 feet off the ground.  I am 73, suffering some old age issues, but would really go for experience in the cockpit.   When is a pilot too old?  Maybe Chuck Yaeger and Bob Hoover are good examples of how some people age well.  My grandfathers died in their seventies.  My dad died in his eighties.  I hope to be active into my nineties.  I am happy that you, Steve, as a pilot now have the magic of new electronics to help make you and your peer pilots handle these massive planes safely.  If I had the ideal combination in the cockpit, it would be a healthy 70 year old seasoned pilot with a young buck with lots of simulation experience.  -- Enough