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III. SOME RELATED AREAS OF EQUAL CONCERN

A.  Section 121.383(C).

A glaring example of the dual standards and curious logic applied by FAA to users of the common airspace lies in FAA's regulation requiring compulsory retirement of airline pilots at attainment of age 60.  The FAA provision (Section 121.383(C) of the FAR) is addressed to the airlines, and prohibits them from continuing to utilize such pilots in operations under Part 121.  Though it argues that the basis for this regulation lies in safety, FAA has yet to deny such pilots the right to function as pilots in the common airspace in other kinds of flying.

As a consequence, the regulation has, since 1959, had the following effects upon pilots who have attained age 60:

1.  They mas not continue to serve as pilots in scheduled airline flying, in which their years of experience constitute a principal element of safety, where their services are performed on aircraft equipped with the most advanced technology and safety devices, and in which they are normally supported by other fully qualified members of a fail-safe crew; but

2.  They may serve as instructors or check pilots for the same airline, on the same type aircraft, using the same airspace and airports, in circumstances where such a pilot may often be the only fully-qualified pilot aboard that aircraft during flight; and

3.  They may serve as pilots-in-command of scheduled, passenger-carrying aircraft operated under Part 135 and Part 298 of