Originally Posted by
RJSAviator76
Think about it... you can obtain FAA Class 1 medical as a 65 year old, even 70 year old. You can even fly the same type of aircraft (EMB-135) for a commercial operation like JSX. But if you're 65 years old, you can fly it for JSX under FAR 135, but you cannot fly that same exact jet under FAR 121 for Commutair because of your age.
This isn’t as inconsistent as it seems because tons and tons of parts are life limited on a 135 and a 121 that are allowed to run to failure operating part 91.
The pilots are actually treated the same as the engines which is consistent.
A pilot service life is artificially shortened at age 65, the same as most all critical parts when the plane is on a certificate.
Pilots and engines are simply allowed to run to failure part 91 and it is considered unacceptable risk 135 and 121.
Just because parts and pilots sometimes fail prematurely doesn’t mean that service limits are ineffective and aren’t based on safety.
Just because engines and pilots receive annual inspections doesn’t mean the inspection and not service limit doesn’t catch failures before they happen.
If inspections were grounding too many engines and pilots then that would mean the inspection intervals are too far apart or service limits are too generous.
If you are relying too heavily on an inspection it becomes a single point of failure like the jackscrew crash. There is no redundancy for inspections unlike some mx procedures that require a QC check.