*** PREVIOUS RESULTS ***
Last week, AVweb asked your opinion on biometrics as strategy in the war
on terror. Specifically, if the U.S. does introduce legislation to add
biometric parameters to your pilot certificate, should they also require
biometric readings for mechanics?
13% of the readers who responded to last week's question were in favor of
biometrics for mechanics. What's good for the goose, they say, is good
for the gander ... .
Another 20% of you agreed that pilots and mechanics should be treated
equally in this arena: No one should be tagged with biometric
identifiers. For this segment of readers, biometrics are the ultimate
invasion of privacy.
The majority of you (61%) agreed with this statment: The
identification of law-abiding people is not the problem -- a terrorist
doesn't need any kind of license to inflict his will. Besides, the new
certificates will not be issued to current certificate holders. Has anyone
taken a look at the cost/benefit of this idea?
*** THIS WEEK'S QUESTION ***
This week, AVweb looks at some numbers and posits a logical deduction:
Air traffic controllers suffer mandatory retirement at 56 because
scientific data suggests there's a sharp decline in sight, hearing, and
other necessary skills as people hit their mid-50s; and science offers no
evidence to justify relaxing the retirement age. "It's a function of
physiology," according to National Air Traffic Controllers Association
President John Carr. At the same time, airline pilots suffer mandatory
retirement at 60 (and in many countries, 65).
This may suggest that, in the eyes of regulators, pilots have the less
physiologically demanding job. In very simple black-and-white terms, what do
you think:
Do mandatory retirement ages indicate a difference in the physical
demands placed on pilots and on controllers?
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