Opinion ID: 743573
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Periodic performance checks

Text: 23 The FAA rejected periodic performance checks on the ground that they only verify the state of a pilot's performance at the time of the checks. They do not detect early or subclinical cognitive defects that may subtly degrade performance and do not predict whether an individual pilot's performance will degrade at any time in the future as a result of age. The Pilots assert that rather than afford adequate consideration to this proposal the agency blindly relied upon its 1984 determination that there are no valid tests capable of screening out pilots likely to suffer from age-related impairment. The FAA, we are told, did not even acknowledge that a detailed testing protocol had been presented to the agency during a 1985 hearing before the House Select Committee on Aging. The FAA also purportedly failed adequately to respond to the EEOC's observation that several non-Part 121 operators, most notably the Boeing Corporation, have adopted individualized testing in order to settle various suits brought against them under the ADEA. The Pilots fault the FAA for responding to the EEOC's detailed comment with the simple assertion that it had not been apprised of the testing protocols or of the results of any such testing, ha[d] not seen them discussed in the medical literature, and ha[d] not been party to the agreements. 24 The FAA responds by pointing out that it did evaluate the specific testing regimens proposed by the commenters before finally concluding that testing individual pilots is an inadequate substitute for the Age 60 Rule. In the final rule document the agency observed that available tests: (1) evaluate only a pilot's present performance and cannot be used to predict the sudden onset of an age-related impairment, such as early or subclinical cognitive defects; (2) cannot measure the subtle degradation of skills that may prove serious in the cockpit; and (3) do not evaluate how a pilot responds to stress and fatigue. 25 The FAA contends that its response to the comment submitted by the EEOC was entirely adequate in light of the purely anecdotal evidence that the EEOC offered in support of its assertion that individualized testing has proven to be a viable substitute for a bright-line rule based upon age. The EEOC's principal evidence is that it reached a settlement agreement with Boeing under which that company's pilots were for a time allowed to continue flying until the age of 63. The FAA acknowledges as much but is quick to point out that: (1) the EEOC lawyer who oversaw the Boeing litigation observed in a 1991 article published by the Flight Safety Foundation that the full impact of the agreement upon safety remained to be assessed; (2) no account of Boeing's experience has yet been published; (3) Boeing pilots are corporate pilots who do not fly under Part 121; and (4) a Boeing representative had testified before the agency that neither the information uncovered as a result of this effort nor subsequent Boeing ... experience with our medical and neuropsychological protocols ... gives us confidence that means are currently available to detect or predict age-related problems which may have [an] adverse [effect] on safety. 26 The Pilots also claim that the agency's rejection of individualized testing for pilots over the age of 60 is inconsistent with its acceptance of monitoring and testing for younger pilots with certain known medical conditions. The FAA maintains that it did in fact offer an adequate explanation for the apparent inconsistency when it specifically found that, although a younger pilot with a diagnosed medical condition may be monitored, 27 such is not the case in aging, since there are no generally applicable medical tests that can, at this time, adequately determine which individual pilots are subject to incapacitation secondary to either acute cardiovascular or neurological events or to more subtle adverse conditions related to decline of cognitive functioning. 28 60 Fed.Reg. at 65,984. For example, a pilot with a diagnosed heart condition can be tested and monitored in order to determine whether there is a significant risk that he will suffer a heart attack. The FAA allows this pilot to continue flying provided that his doctors have determined that the risk of his suffering a sudden unexpected impairment due to his heart condition is de minimis. There are no tests, however, that can accurately determine the risk of an apparently healthy but older pilot suddenly being stricken by any one of the many potentially disabling conditions that may accompany advancing age. 29 We conclude that the FAA afforded adequate consideration to the alternative of individualized testing. The FAA explained that even state-of-the-art testing cannot screen out potentially risky pilots. The EEOC did not offer any data in support of its assertion that allowing pilots to fly until the age of 63 would not compromise safety; the FAA simply cannot be faulted for failing to explain away data that are not part of the record. 30 Finally, we conclude that the FAA adequately explained the difference in treatment it affords to pilots over the age of 60 who have no known medical condition and to younger pilots who do have a known medical condition. The risk of allowing the younger pilot to continue flying is negligible provided--and it is this critical proviso that our colleague in dissent seems to ignore--that the agency has been able to develop a means of assessment and surveillance specifically designed to demonstrate the individual's capabilities and to identify any adverse changes. Doctors are not only unable to determine whether an older but apparently healthy pilot will be afflicted with a dangerous condition; they are also unable to predict with which of the myriad conditions that accompany advancing age an individual pilot is likely to be afflicted.  The FAA cannot practically monitor for the onset, and thereby avoid the consequences, of all potential hazardous medical conditions in an older pilot. Therefore, it was not unreasonable for the FAA to allow younger pilots with particular medical conditions to continue flying while, at the same time, not allowing pilots over the age of 60 to do so. 31