When the Rules Change, You Might Pay for Other Pilots’ Mistakes

Foolish decisions to disregard aviation regulations can definitely introduce a negative trickle-down effect.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, June 03, 2025 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

[Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Aviation is governed by Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), often established after accidents, but pilots frequently disregard these critical rules, leading to potential safety issues.
Beyond FARs, flight schools have internal rules vital for smooth operations; violations like no-shows or late returns inconvenience others and can lead to stricter policies for all students.
A tragic incident involving an intoxicated CFI taking an unauthorized flight highlights the severe consequences of violating both regulations and trust, leading to fatalities and prompting broader scrutiny of flight school procedures for after-hours aircraft access.

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One of the first things you learn as a pilot in training is that aviation is built on rules and regulations. Learners are often admonished with hearing the “Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are written in blood,” meaning take them seriously, because some were written after an event that resulted in injury or death.

After the accident the investigating authorities and the FAA or its predecessor, the Civil Aeronautics Authority, determined it could have been prevented if only the pilot hadn’t done this or that, or had taken certain steps that would have resulted in a different outcome. Thus, the FARs were born.