This is a slightly torturous argument but by following it through a series of very short steps I think the line of reasoning below establishes the fact that UK CAA are already accepting that pilots with an incapacitation risk greater than that of someone aged over 65 years of age can continue to fly public transport and having accepted that this level of risk is acceptable for one group of individuals it would be discriminatory not to accept an equivalent level of risk for everyone else aged over 65 years subject to medical condition.
The line of reasoning is as follows.
Until recently two pilots aged over 60 years i.e between 60 and 65 years of age could not fly together in multi crew public transport. This restriction has recently been relaxed so that two pilots over 60 years of age but under 65 years of age can be paired together.
Now turning to the restrictions imposed on a pilot with an Operational Multi Crew Limitation (OML) imposed on their Class One Medical Certificate we have the following facts
A pilot with an OML may not fly single crew public transport and :
1. May not be paired with another pilot with themselves has an OML or
2. Paired with another pilot aged over 60 years of age.
Two pilots each of whom do not have an OML aged between 60 and 65 years of age can fly together it then follows that because a pilot with an OML is forbidden by regulation to fly public transport paired with a pilot over 60 years of age that the incapacitation risk of the OML pilot is accepted and tolerated to be greater than that of a pilot aged over 65 years.
As a level of risk greater than that of someone aged over 65 years is acceptable for OML pilots provided they operate within the limitations of the OML i.e. not being paired with another pilot with an OML or with another pilot over 60 years of age so pilots aged over 65 years should not be prevented from flying on the basis of age alone providing they comply with the limitations imposed on an OML pilot.
If a level of risk greater than that of a 65 year old is acceptable in a younger pilot with an OML then that level of risk must be acceptable for all pilots on reaching the age of 65.
Forcing pilots to retire at age 65 on the basis of incapacitation risk is bogus as this level of risk is already accepted and the policy of preventing pilots continuing to fly public transport beyond 65 years of age is discriminatory.
