Originally Posted by
OnTheMeridian
Well that's just the thing, there's no set age where cognitive decline begins. And worse, some (albeit very few), were never particularly sharp to begin with. So at what age do we begin testing people for cognitive decline? Seems like picking an age would end up being just another random number we will hate. And it'd be discriminatory. A cognitive test would have to be given to everyone.
Furthermore, which test do we use? There actually is not any standard test that is recognized in the scientific community as being able to reliably identify cognitive decline. Sure, there are some tests that are pretty good at identifying cognitive issues when they become serious, such as identifying Altzheimer's, but nothing exists to truly identify a more "normal" cognitive decline. Since everyone is different, what's the baseline? How do you know if someone has deteriorated from where they were before if you never measured where they started from?
It's really not the same as physical health. And speaking of which, we all know the FAA medicals we take are a joke. Should we tighten up those standards too? We could eliminate some of the older pilots that way. But we need to be prepared to see a lot of younger folks be dismissed too.
You can't just "target" older pilots with tests. Maybe it can be done legislatively, like the age 65 rule for 121 operators, but coming up with tests that are specifically meant to weed out older pilots is illegal and unethical.
You seem to forget we undergo an annual cognitive test in the form of simulator training during recurrent and initials. Problem pilots are all well known in the training department. The only thing we need to do is properly follow through with training to ATP standards. Those that don’t make the cut after some remedial help or need to always rely on their sim partner to get through should be put to pasture. This job isn’t for everybody.