Effects of aging on pilot performance measured in response time during emergency situation

Many studies have been made which demonstrate the significance of age-related deterioration in the performance of certain tasks. Most of literatures indicate that the process of aging is a very complex matter, and that there are significant variations in the performance, abilities, and tolerances among individuals. Many aircraft mishaps happened during the take-off or landing phase of operations.; The objective of this research is to identify and describe the work performance of the younger and older pilots. Most of researches stated that older adults might maintain many highly practiced activities at a constant level even though they are subjected to age-related declines. This study will investigate the effect of pilot age and flight experience on pilot performance during emergency situations, such as right after take-off or before landing. Experience is a very important variable moderating human performance and one that should be considered when attempting to examine any type of individual differences in behavior. This study will also investigate whether or not the ethnic groups affect the pilot performance.; An experimental study using C-130 Simulator was chosen in order to represent the flight studies for airline pilots. The data collection method used for this study was a random sample simulation data of trainees of Reflectone Training Center. The pilot performance data along with training data was recorded. Analyses to determine the response time and following procedures in emergency situations of several inter-related activities were conducted.; The findings supported that ethnic groups do not affect pilot performance. Findings showed that there is insufficient evidence to indicate statistically significant differences in pilot performance among ethnic groups. Although the response time of older pilot groups were slower than their counter parts to act during emergencies, both groups of following procedures showed no difference statistically. Findings also showed that following procedures of older pilots compensated their age-related decline in this simulation flight even though they took longer response time than their counter parts.