While there’s no rule against pilots flying helicopters in their 80s (as long as they pass a medical exam), airline pilots in the United States have a forced retirement age of 65. "And since it’s really a delicate balancing act, the performance of the helicopter to get it to do what you want to do is going to be a reflection of the pilot’s skill and ability to make it happen.” “All helicopters are going to fundamentally operate the same way, but the heavier the helicopter is, the more sensitive it’s going to be to control the inputs,” Katz told Knox News. Two sticks have to be manipulated in unison, while an airplane takes just one hand to maneuver flight controls. Helicopters take two feet and two hands to operate the controls, Katz said. And piloting a helicopter is more difficult than both, said Robert Katz, a commercial airplane pilot and flight instructor who frequently speaks with news outlets following aircraft crashes. Goelz, who was 72 at the time of the interview, told Knox News he is worse at driving a car now than when he was 40 – “that’s just the simple truth." Drivers 70 and older have a higher fatal crash rate per mile compared to middle-aged drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.īut driving a car is easier for most people than flying a plane. “This is the first time in the course of human history that we’ve had so many people live to reach the age of 100,” he told Knox News in the month after Clayton's crash. “We are seeing more people live out to extreme old age.”īut once a person turns 75 or 80 years old, Powers said, “we start to question the necessity of certain things that maybe aren’t that critical.” Knoxville businessman Jim Clayton, who was 86 at the time, had just two hours of helicopter experience in the 90 days prior to crashing into the water due to an aerodynamic phenomenon called vortex ring state, which resulted in the death of his brother and fellow businessman, Joe Clayton. 3, 2020, helicopter crash near Sequoyah Hills. At some point, a responsible pilot has to say, 'You know, I just shouldn’t do this anymore.'"Ĭrews remove helicopter wreckage from the Tennessee River after a fatal Aug. "And flying a sophisticated piece of equipment like the Eurocopter takes some genuine skill. "It's simply a matter of fact that your flying skills diminish the older you get," Goelz told Knox News. Joe Clayton: Family overwhelmed by tragic death and 'outpouring of love' Goelz, who was not working for the NTSB when Knox News spoke to him, questioned whether Jim Clayton should have been in the cockpit when he crashed the Eurocopter EC130. The crash into the Tennessee River killed Clayton's brother, Joe, 84, who drowned when he couldn't escape the aircraft. Goelz spoke with Knox News in the weeks following the August 2020 crash of a helicopter piloted by Clayton Homes founder Jim Clayton, who was 86 at the time. But when it comes to flying helicopters, 86 years old is "well beyond" the age a pilot should think about letting someone else do the flying, said Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. Everybody ages differently, and there's no golden rule for when a person should give up tasks they handled easily when they were younger.
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