Word: faa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...brain had the data it needed. He could work on automatic, whereas other people's brains plodded through the storm of new information. "Humans behave much more appropriately when they know what to expect--as do rats," says Cynthia Corbett, a human-factors specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA...
...better understand how the mind responds to a novel situation like a plane crash, I visited the FAA's training academy in Oklahoma City, Okla. In a field behind one of their labs, they had hoisted a jet section on risers. I boarded the mock-up plane along with 30 flight-attendant supervisors. Inside, it looked just like a normal plane, and the flight attendants made jokes, pretending to be passengers. "Could I get a cocktail over here, please? I paid a lot of money for this seat...
...McLean has been studying plane evacuations for 16 years at the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. He starts all his presentations with a slide that reads IT'S THE PEOPLE. He is convinced that if passengers had a mental plan for getting out of a plane, they would move much more quickly in a crisis. But, like others who study disaster behavior, he is perpetually frustrated that not more is done to encourage self-reliance. "The airlines and the flight attendants underestimate the fact that passengers can be good survivors. They think passengers are goats," he says. Better, more...
...virtually no medical data to support it then, and, critics say, it remains in place today despite studies that show that older fliers can still be capable pilots. The experience of major carriers outside the U.S. confirms that qualified pilots over age 59 continue to fly safely, and the FAA has not identified a single airliner accident in the U.S. attributable to the age of a pilot. But airlines have continued to support the rule, in part, critics charge, in order to get their most highly-paid employees off their books early. The FAA stands by arguments made during...
...Supporters of changing the rule point out that airline pilots are some of the most closely monitored people in the world: they receive two physical examinations, two to three 'check' rides where their pilots skills must meet FAA standards and at least one recurring training session ground school per year. On top of that, pilots are required to watch each other and report if there are problems that could affect safety in any way. "If rigid enforcement of the age 60 rule ever served any valid purpose-a doubtful proposition at best-it certainly outlived its usefulness long ago," says...