Robert Gibson, better known as "Hoot" among his peers was forced to retire today. He flew on 5 Space Shuttle missions and was the commander on 3 of those flights. He's logged an incredible number of hours both in the air and in space. He's even in the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

When he retired from NASA, he flew as a commercial airline pilot at Southwest Airlines. Today he was forced to retire because there is a age limit imposed by the FAA that dates back to 1957. Is this fair? Should pilots with notable & distinguished service like "Hoot" be forced to retire because of some outdated law? If the pilot's health is good, why do we need an outdated law to mandate/ enforce him or her to retire so early when they still have many years of work life? On the other hand, I can understand the reasoning for such a law because airline pilots hold the safety of millions of passengers in their own hands. But 60 does seem a bit too "early".