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Pilot age and expertise predict flight simulator performance

A 3-year longitudinal study

From the Department of Veterans Affairs and Sierra-Pacific MIRECC (J.L.T., J.A.Y.), Palo Alto; and Stanford University School of Medicine (J.L.T., Q.K., A.N., J.A.Y.), Stanford, CA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Joy L. Taylor, Aging Clinical Research Center, 3801 Miranda Avenue (151Y), Palo Alto, CA 94304; e-mail: joyt{at}stanford.edu

Background: Expert knowledge may compensate for age-related declines in basic cognitive and sensory-motor abilities in some skill domains. We investigated the influence of age and aviation expertise (indexed by Federal Aviation Administration pilot ratings) on longitudinal flight simulator performance.

Methods: Over a 3-year period, 118 general aviation pilots aged 40 to 69 years were tested annually, in which their flight performance was scored in terms of 1) executing air-traffic controller communications; 2) traffic avoidance; 3) scanning cockpit instruments; 4) executing an approach to landing; and 5) a flight summary score.

Results: More expert pilots had better flight summary scores at baseline and showed less decline over time. Secondary analyses revealed that expertise effects were most evident in the accuracy of executing aviation communications, the measure on which performance declined most sharply over time. Regarding age, even though older pilots initially performed worse than younger pilots, over time older pilots showed less decline in flight summary scores than younger pilots. Secondary analyses revealed that the oldest pilots did well over time because their traffic avoidance performance improved more vs younger pilots.

Conclusions: These longitudinal findings support previous cross-sectional studies in aviation as well as non-aviation domains, which demonstrated the advantageous effect of prior experience and specialized expertise on older adults' skilled cognitive performances.

Additional material related to this article can be found on the Neurology Web site. Go to www.neurology.org and scroll down the Table of Contents for the February 27 issue to find the title link for this article.

Editorial, see page 630

Supported by the Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and the Medical Research Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and by NIA grants P30 AG 17824 and R37 AG 12713 (with a supplement for underrepresented minorities to Dr. Kennedy).

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Received February 10, 2006.

Accepted in final form December 3, 2006.

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Fly the graying skies: A question of competency vs age

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				Effects of Age and Expertise on Pilot Performance Journal Watch Neurology, April 3, 2007; 2007(403): 4 - 4. [Full Text]

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