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No Idea What’s Going On

Retired Army Lt. Col. Lott Lawson inspects a Cessna 172 aircraft March 29 Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. He is a site manager for the maintainence of Iraqi air force aircraft. As coalition forces continue reaching benchmarks to rebuild the Iraqi air force, this former U.S. Army helicopter has helped foreign pilots earn their wings throughout his military and civilian career during training programs in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Eric Schloeffel)
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The article discusses how aging can lead to cognitive decline in pilots, affecting reaction times and information processing, making it difficult for them or others to recognize when it's time to stop flying.
  • A fatal accident involving a 78-year-old pilot illustrated these challenges, as he experienced significant confusion with GPS navigation, struggled with ATC communications, and reported difficulty controlling his aircraft.
  • The NTSB investigation concluded the accident was caused by the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and manually control the airplane, resulting in an aerodynamic stall, exacerbated by his over-reliance on autopilot and likely improper single-pilot certification.
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No matter how successful we are in life, there’s always someone with a bigger house, a newer car and a better job to help keep us honest. That’s certainly true in aviation, where we’re often left to wonder how some pilots can get away with buying and flying more airplane than they can handle. You know the type.

Meanwhile, and as Bob Wright touches on in his article beginning on page 8, getting older in the cockpit can expose us to some basic realities about the aging process and how, while we might be physically fit for many activities, our cognitive abilities may not keep up, leaving us with slower reaction times and, often, difficulties in processing new information.

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