The objective of this study was to determine if older pilots forgot more about a learned flight task after a 10-month delay than did younger pilots and if the anticipated greater skill loss led older pilots' performance to be more disrupted by alcohol. Repeated measures comparactive group design examined the effects of alcohol versus placebo in two age groups (14 younger and 13 older) and at two timepoints: acute intoxication, at a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.10%, and 8 hours post-drink. This study replicates the findings of earlier studies that an 8-hour waiting period from "Bottle-to-Throttle" is insufficient but finds little difference according to age in recollection of a previously learned task or in susceptibility to either acute or hangover effects of alcohol.
Abstract