LTE: Tragic flight

Regarding "Horrific scene at air show" (Page A1, Saturday), throughout the various early reports of the P-51 fighter plane that crashed in Reno, Nev., that killed or injured scores of people, the pilot has been portrayed as a hero.

Various observers have reported that he made every effort to avoid the stands before crashing to the ground, and that there may have been some mechanical failure. The unasked question is: What was a 74-year-old man doing pulling high g-force maneuvers at 400-plus miles per hour in a 70-year-old airplane?

For decades, professional aviators in the military have been routinely taken out of the cockpit as early as age 40, and none are allowed to simulate combat maneuvers after 50, acknowledging that time takes its toll on the physical and mental faculties necessary to fly such aircraft.

At age 74, this pilot had no business being in the cockpit of any plane doing high performance maneuvers, much less in a plane manufactured during World War II.

- Pete Smith, Cypress

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Letters-Health-care-books-crash-2178524.php