Saturday, January 17, 2009

Quick Reflexes or Experience?

So let's say you're a passenger in an airliner that just got struck by a flock of birds. The birds were sucked into both jet engines, causing them to stop, and you know that an airliner can't really glide so you also know a crash is probably less than a minute away.

Which of the following pilots would you want in the cockpit: a 30-year-old from the joystick/video game generation with perfect eyesight and the quick physical reflexes of someone that age or a 57-year-old from the 'look out the window' generation with a calm personality and 30 years of experience?

I'm sure you heard about the plane that crashed in the Hudson River in New York yesterday and how the experienced, 57-year-old pilot made a nearly impossible turn followed by a nearly impossible smooth water landing and saved 155 lives.

Experience wins this round!!

Tell me why airline pilots have to retire at age 60.

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Visit Rhea's Boomer Chronicles blog for some more (and better) perspective.

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