Should This Pilot Lose His License?

I just looked up this pilot. He's 88 years old. maybe time to take grandpa's keys

I am a 77-year old Veteran and pilot since 1983 with SEL/Instrument. I have never had an accident, but several scary incidents, like all pilots. I voluntarily made the decision to end my physical flying and purchased an Elite PI-135 Professional Flight Simulator - fully loaded with every possible configuration. With the addition of my VatSim it is like nothing has changed. The world of Flight Simulation is outstanding and improving every year. Sometimes one must make a decision, not just for one's personal benefit, but for all of our fellow airmen.

I'm 72 year old "Medically retired" Commercial Pilot. I had to face the facts that due to cancer and all the chemo and radiation my mental skills were diminished. I even passed a FAA demonstrated flt examination however after some sole searching I had to admit that I would be a danger to myself and others. Hardest decision ever made, If he does not voluntarily turn in his license - they will take it. Thanks God ATC and the other pilots in the area recognized his issues. Great Commentary!

Just clarification on the ATC part. First of all I am a retired controller from Chicago so I have some insight. The average time on positions is about 90 minutes, sometimes it is a lot shorter, and is not supposed to be more than 2 hours. This varies mainly based on staffing and when people come back from breaks. In this scenario I doubt it’s a supervisor, I have very seldom seen a supervisor step in as they don’t have the picture of your specific traffic. Most likely it is not a relief because once the new controller takes over the relieved controller doesn’t want to interfere as this will just make the situation worse. Far more likely it is training in progress. In this case the female is training the male, and steps in then steps back, then steps in again.

Every now and then Kelsey gets kidnapped and forced to talk about an aviation related clip in an abandoned warehouse somewhere

Dementia? Air traffic control needs to have the pilot forced to have an updated medical.

I think that is the worst airmanship I have ever heard. There is no way he should ever fly again.

If we can get a recording of Kelsey telling ATC that he’s big and fat and heavy and doesn’t want hot brakes, that would be the most epic thing ever! 😂😂😂

If I'm the FAA officer, nope, banned from flying, permanently. He's a danger to all aviators.

thanks for the story - Your recommendation is exactly part of what I did as a Civil Air Patrol volunteer instructor. Flew with Vets who still loved to fly, but had diminished skills due to age related issues. The last thing to go in my experience, performing a safe landing. Nav and Comms where a challenge to many.

Being a tenant at the airport for 14 years isn't a persuasive argument for anything other than maybe he owns a plane and pays his rent on time.

To quote airplane “he’s a menace to himself and everything else in the air, yes… birds too”

Sorry, revoke his pilot license. As a former flight nurse, the med crew had to actually refuse to fly with 2 different pilots to have the company (at different times over 10 yrs) take our complaints seriously and send out a flight instructor to test them. At least the 2nd time it happened much faster. We were threatened with being fired but we all responded eff off, I can get a job tomorrow in hospital. It will pay less, but at least I won’t be dead. Our program had experienced a crash previously killing the pilot & paramedic. After a deep dive investigation, it was found that he had been let go for not being able to multitask from a former job, but he didn’t report the job on his resume & no report to FAA was made. He was then hired as a medical helicopter pilot that would involve flying unscheduled flights in and out of Washington DC airspace. A disaster waiting to happen.

Being a tenant there for 14 years doesn't really make it better for that dude. He should be very familiar with the procedures there. He should have his license revoked, at least until some serious amount of re-training.

I'm so glad that you covered this flight, because I already saw the flight on another channel, but without any explanation whatsoever. The comments over there were all over the place and I was just confused what was even going on in the first place. You make this so crystal clear to understand what happened for a civilian that has no real clue of aviation, I'm really grateful.

Every time you said, "It gets worse", my anxiety jumped up a couple of levels.

I gave up on my trucking CDL just because at 66, I felt my edge dulling and I didnt want to endanger myself ot others. My Dad had dementia so I'm keenly aware of the risks. I can't imagine flying an aircraft in busy airspace.

That pilot sounds like he is having a serious senior moment

Kelsey always does an amazing job explaining these interactions between pilots and ATC. I don’t know anything about aviation but Kelsey has a terrific ability to explain it all to non-aviation people and make it all really compelling too. After watching these videos over the years I know it is bad news for the pilot when they have to write down a phone number. 😮

Saw this on another channel a few days ago. My thought then was the same as it is now. "Imagine what he's like in a grocery store parking lot..."