The Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act (H. R. 4343), which became law (Public Law No: 110-135) on December 13, 2007, extended the federal age standard for pilots of large commercial aircraft from 60 to 65 years of age.  A provision of the act requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report, no later than 24 months after its enactment, the effect, if any, of the change on aviation safety.

GAO Summary

Our review of FAA’s accident and incident data and NTSB’s accident data from December 2007, when the act was enacted, through September 2009 showed that no accidents or incidents resulted from the health conditions of pilots 60 years or older. However, for a more definitive assessment, a longer period of time would be required to collect data for similar groups, both pilots 60 years or older and younger pilots to determine if the act’s change in the age standard for commercial pilots has any effect on aviation safety. Such a study is not yet feasible because the act is too recent for flight records to be available for a sufficient number of pilots 60 years or older.

The full report is available at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10107r.pdf