Pilots age restrictions and licences

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Tim Crean flies passengers all over the world. If you ask him, it’s the best gig a guy have.

“I have the best corner office there is and my view changes daily,” Tim Crean said.

Crean, who is general manager at Tom Wood Aviation in Fishers, says his days of transporting are numbered. Federal law dictates how long Crean and other commercial pilots can sit in the Captain’s Chair.

“It's a safety issue,” Crean said.

Keeping passengers safe means no one 65 or older is allowed in the cockpit.

And, no one 60 or older can sit in the Captain’s chair, unless there is someone else in the cockpit under 60. That's according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Your skills start to erode,” Crean said. “Carrying around the amount of people, and the responsibility those pilots have, there had to be a cutoff somewhere.”

The FAA says the average age of all pilots in the United States is 52.

In Indiana, there are nearly 10-700 people with a valid pilot's license. Of those, a little more than 22-hundred are commercial pilots.

But 24-Hour-News 8 uncovered 28-percent of Hoosiers with valid school bus licenses are 60 or older.

According to the Bureau of Motor vehicles 21,168 Hoosiers have valid school bus licenses. You have to be 21 to obtain a license.

Records show the oldest person with a valid school bus license is 88 while the median age of licensed drivers 54.

The numbers come from the Department of Motor Vehicles. While they provide an insight into the age of Hoosiers with valid school bus licenses, the numbers do not show whether the individuals are active drivers.

The data shows 28 percent, or more than 1 in 4, licensed school bus drivers are over the age of 60. 7% are 70 or older.

Looking at the raw numbers 492 sixty-five-year-olds have valid school bus licenses. 273 seventy-year-olds. 115 seventy five-year-olds and 31 80-year-olds.

In the past three months there have been two serious school bus crashes involving drivers over the age of 59.

On May 23rd, Carmel Clay School bus Jack Thomas was bounced out of his seat while the bus was in motion. He wasn't wearing his seat belt.

The 73-year-old attempted to regain control of his bus but couldn't. He ended up on the floor. The bus crashed through a fence, trees, a play set and hit a homeowner's garage.

Such tragedies are part of the reason pilots have age limits and other requirements.

For example, a physical is required every year for some and captains must take one every six months.

And those 40 and over have to get an EKG.

“Granted, a bus or a truck isn’t going to fall out of the sky but they can easily cross the center line,” Crean said. “They are operating around other traffic.”

Jay Hermacinski contributed to this report