Originally Posted by
atpcliff
They got the Age 60 rule because that is what the CEO of AA told the head of the FAA to make the rule. They were friends. Before the Age 60 rule, there was no age limit. Canada, and several other countries, now have no age limit, and Japan just changed to age 67.
I read, several years ago, that the FAA did a study, and the age 60+ pilots had the least problems.
Actually, there were a lot of studies that went into the age 60 rule. It was originally going to be 55, but the board went with 60 based on studies. And there were going to be even tighter age restrictions on transitioning from piston to jet engine aircraft.
The friendship between CR Smith and Quesada was due to working together during WWII and Quesada did not make the decision on age 60; an independent board did AFTER evaluating quite a bit of data/studies. But a bunch of studies isn't as intriguing as a conspiracy theory.