Originally Posted by Timbo

I've always wondered why ALPA National doesn't keep track of "what kills Pilots" both before and after they retire, and how long they live into retirement if they fly to age 60 (65 now). I witnessed a run of about 5 senior Captains who all died of brain cancer either just before or just after age 60 all in one year, about 10 years ago.

That's when I started asking why are we not provided with accurate info on what kills pilots. I even called National about it and I was told they cannot keep track of pilots after they retire because their medical info is "Private".

Now, back in the 1960's all the way up until the time they stopped allowing smoking on airplanes (1990?) most of the Capt.s I knew smoked quite a bit, and drank quite a bit more than the guys I fly with today, and ate like pigs on a layover of course. I'm sure that was not good for longevity, but I'd still like to know the real numbers and know exactly what are the most common killers of pilots, before and after retirement, see if we are any different than the general population, even more so after hearing all this Cell Phone use = Brain Cancer stuff lately.