The Nation - News from May 28, 1989

The Federal Aviation Administration denied a petition from a group of older pilots to be allowed to fly airliners after age 60, saying older pilots are more likely to be involved in accidents. However, the agency announced that it would fund a study of pilot age and accident rates and indicated that it might be willing to certify individual pilots over 60 if a way can be found to determine their capacities. The issue has simmered since the 1950s when the FAA first ordered airline pilots and co-pilots to retire at 60. It attracted renewed interest after Feb. 24 when 59-year-old United Airlines pilot David Cronin guided a Boeing 747 to a safe landing in Honolulu after part of its fuselage blew off, killing nine people. Cronin was hailed as a hero for his second-to-last commercial flight before retirement. The latest denial came on a petition filed in May, 1986. The FAA rejected it 16 months later. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago required the FAA to take another look at the petition.