No. You have to be fit enough to be a pilot. That means if you're going to fly into a controlled airport (or any unfamiliar airport) you need to review the Airport Facility Directory to learn the setup of the airport. It means knowing your aircraft registration number and knowing you are in an airplane and not a helicopter.
http://people.com/movies/harrison-f...s-in-helicopter-before-controversial-landing/
Aviation is a highly regulated industry. No one here said he did it on purpose. He did it because he didn't have situational awareness. He didn't just make one mistake. He made a series of errors leading up to landing on a taxiway instead of a runway.
I think he has an idea he's past his prime. He recently went flying in his privately owned Cessna Caravan with a co-pilot. That is a single pilot rated aircraft.
He made it to 74, 9 years past the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots in the U.S. If he's smart, he'll hang it up before he kills himself or someone else.
There are 3 classes of pilot medical certificates in the US and separate classes of pilot certificates including private, commercial and airline transport. To fly a privately owned puddle jumper, you only need a 3rd class medical and a private pilot's certificate. So no, you do not have to be as fit or as qualified as an airline pilot. You need even less under a recreational certificate.
Private aviation is not an industry and is not as regulated as the airline industry. If you have time to waste, check out FAA Part 61 versus Part 91 and 121. Private pilots are not subject to Part 91 (commercial operations) or Part 121 (airline operations), or 135 or 125. The age restriction only applies to captains under Part 121.
The maximum age for Part 121 captains is 65. After that, they can continue as copilots. Does not apply to Parts 61 (basic), 91 (commercial) or 135 (commuter airline). In Canada, there is no age limit to being a copilot of a transport category airliner, and no limit other than air carrier operations, which is 65 for captains.
In Canada, commercial operators of 'single-pilot' Caravans and Pilatus aircraft often fly with a second pilot when conducting IFR flight. So it's not unusual to fly with a safety pilot in his case. An aircraft certified for single pilot flight does not prohibit having a second pilot in the other seat.
I've known (and flown with) pilots who would continue flying commercially well into their 80's.
Your people.com reference is fake news in the way they take out of context, mislead, exaggerate and otherwise sensationalize. They overdramatize for the purpose of click bait.
Ford is not going to be hanged or burned at the stake. He will most likely get a fine, and possible pilot certificate suspension for something like 90 days. As I said before, all kinds of pilots screw up at one time during their flying careers. If screw-ups [almost] never happened, there would not be an enforcement branch of Transport Canada or of the FAA; They would instead send the Mounties or the FBI, respectively. Don't believe everything you see on the internet.
