Naturally, I don’t know what caused this crash. But the age of the pilot (73) might be a Contributing Factor. (If it wasn’t the Primary Factor, that the pilot simply died from old age (e.g., heart attack) in flight.) Which brings up the question: At what point is it irresponsible to continue to fly, age-wise?
I’m 65 now. My airplane partner and I decided to sell our Glasair two years ago because, in part, I was becoming too old to fly (and maintain) it. And I knew it. (There will come a time when I won’t know it - when I can’t remember what I don’t remember.) And so we thought it better to sell now than for you to read about us in AvWeb.
First, just on its face, I’m simply not as young as I used to be. My reflexes aren’t as fast as they used to be, making landings in extreme (gusty) crosswinds more difficult. My eyes don’t accommodate anymore, making night flying more difficult. (And progressives/bifocals make it worse.) I can’t think as quickly as I used to, making single pilot IFR much more difficult. I can’t get my oil pressure into the green - if you know what I mean. (While not a requirement for flying, I mention it simply to document the reality that, even though I hike regularly without issue, I’m not a young man anymore. E.g., My O2 Sat at 10,000’ now drops below 90%.)
In addition to these the realities of aging, I noticed other limitations creeping into my life. For example, while flying the Glasair with a potential buyer, I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember my North Tower Frequency of 40 years. And while working on a magneto one night, I remember picking up the mag and experiencing a “black hole” event, where it took about 30 seconds before I could recognize what I was holding in my hand. I was no longer a safe pilot.
Even if you’re not experiencing any of these signs of aging (although you’re probably fudging about your oil pressure, and maybe haven’t checked your O2 Sat at altitude), the simple fact is, the older we become, the closer we become to the day of our death. I’ve not seen a graph, but I expect that, past a certain age, the probability of dying from old age behind the stick increases exponentially. (E.g., the average life expectancy of a male in the USA is 75. So if you’re flying at 76, you’re on the back side of the power curve.) Even our Insurance Broker said that the Insurance Companies will not issue new policies on pilots over 80.
I’m not saying that old age caused this accident. But as Clint Eastwood, in a Dirty Harry movie, famously said “A man’s got to know his limitations.” There is a time for everything, and, sadly, that includes a time to stop flying.