Originally Posted by
DeltaboundRedux
I don't know that there's any data available that suggests age really has much to do with commercial aviation crashes for large airlines. Applies to both young and old.
Just throwing this out there:
What are the exact ages of the pilots for major commercial airline accidents worldwide for the past few decades?
Air France 447 comes to mind. (CA: 58 FO #1: 37 FO #2: 32). Probably the best test case to look at via the lenses of age. Experienced, not "too old", good training experiences, etc.
The CA wasn't in the cockpit, he was in the back on rest. He came back moments before impact. IIRC he immediately recognized the problem but too late.
Originally Posted by
DeltaboundRedux
KLM 4805/Pan Am 1736. (CA: 50, FO: 42 FE: 48) Pre-CRM, ego issues with the KLM CA, etc.
Ancient history, many things have changed.
Originally Posted by
DeltaboundRedux
Malaysia Air 370: (CA: 53. FO: 27) Lord only knows, he ain't talking.
Nobody knows what happened, could have been anything pilot suicide to heroic pilots trying to put out a fire. Someday they'll find the wreckage. Might be next century.
Originally Posted by
DeltaboundRedux
Korean Air 801: (CA: 42. FO: 40 FE: 57)
Root cause cultural issues.
Originally Posted by
DeltaboundRedux
Go down this rabbit hole and I defy anyone to correlate pilot age to actual major accidents.
Hard to say either way.
Exclude everything prior to year 2000 (many industry changes).
Exclude foriegn ops, too many other variables.
What you're left with is several fatal regional crashes. That might correlate to low age and lack of experience. It might also correlate to inherently riskier conditions at the commuters... small airports, worse work rules, smaller, more challenging destinations, etc. FDX and UPS don't look so hot either, but I'd correlate that to working conditions.