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Despite recent crashes, older pilots claim they are just as competent as younger ones
Ken Kaye and C. Ron Allen
South Florida Sun Sentinel
6:28 PM EDT, September 8, 2009
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Whether pilot Matthew Blum didn't react quickly enough to an in-flight emergency, made a poor decision or was simply overwhelmed may never be known.
Yet, no matter what caused the 78-year-old's plane to crash Sunday in Boca Raton, the fatal accident raises the question: Are older pilots prone to accidents?
Since 2003, there have been seven accidents in South Florida involving aviators ages 66 to 80. In the same period overall, there have been about 130 accidents, the vast majority involving pilots younger than 60.
Federal aviation studies note that older pilots are no more at risk for accidents than younger ones. One major reason: All pilots, no matter what age, must receive rigorous training to receive a license. Then, every two years, their skills are retested.
For that reason, older pilots say they are just as competent as younger ones.
"As long as you're mentally healthy, physically healthy and have a good aircraft, you could fly indefinitely, until the day they put you in the box," said Anthony Restaino, 73, state president of the Florida Aero Club, which has 110 chapters.
Still, statistically speaking, age would seem to be a factor in a significant number of small-plane crashes, said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a trade organization representing general aviation.
Whether that is due to retirees having more time to fly -- and thus greater exposure to risk -- is unknown, he said.
Dancy said that after age 40, pilots must take a strict federal aviation physical at least once every three years, compared with once every five years for pilots younger than 40. That test carefully checks vision, hearing and reflexes.
"It's exactly the same test for someone who is 16 and getting his first student pilot's certificate," he said.
Blum, a retired sign manufacturer from New York, had been practicing landings in a home-built Aventura II airplane at Boca Raton Airport. Shortly after his last takeoff, the plane crashed on Yamato Road. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.
In a 2005 report, the NTSB said it was unable to determine if a steady increase in the average age of general aviation pilots has resulted in more accidents. While the average age is now about 50, more than 12,000 U.S. pilots are age 75 and older.
In yet another study, specialists with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore found that as people age, their motor skills and cognitive functions erode. Yet the study noted there is no significant difference between older and younger pilots when it comes to making decisions and performing flight tasks.
Restaino, who has been flying a Beech Bonanza for 26 years, said more than 80 percent of the private pilots in the South Florida skies are older than 55 years old. He said pilots with "gray hair" make it a point to exercise safety.
"We have some pilots in their 70s, and they are as good if not better than younger pilots. They've been around the block. They have experience," added Michael Punziano, 60, a flight instructor and president of Florida Aero Club at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines.
Since the beginning of 2008, more than 60 pilots have been involved in fatal general aviation crashes nationwide. The average age of those pilots was 53, with the youngest being 24 and the oldest being 81. In South Florida since 2003, there have been three fatal accidents involving older pilots.
Among those: Cecil Murray, 80, took off in a twin-engine Cessna 421, even though he knew he had engine problems, and crashed into an Oakland Park home in May. He was killed.
In another, in January 2004, Donald DuBois, 79, of Delray Beach, and his daughter Amy Stevens, 44, were killed when DuBois' Piper Geronimo plummeted into a neighborhood next to the Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana.
Robert Breiling, 79, a Boca Raton-based aviation accident analyst, said he has found the skills of older professional pilots do not erode with age. On the contrary, he said, those pilots must constantly undergo rigorous training and checks, and have amassed experience that aids in safety.
"Experience is good," he said.
Database Editor Dana Williams and Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
Ken Kaye can be reached at
[email protected] or 954-572-2085.
sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-old-pilots-090809,0,4219701.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
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