Always Remember to Mind Your Passengers

Having passengers in the back seat gives the learner an opportunity to practice and apply weight-and-balance calculations.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 08:00 PM ET

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Carrying passengers - especially young ones - can come with challenges. [Credit: Shutterstock/Jazmin Gonzalez]

Key Takeaways:

Student pilots can legally carry passengers during dual lessons with a flight instructor (who acts as PIC), providing valuable experience with weight-and-balance and a heavier aircraft.
Back-seat observers, including fellow students, parents, or children, can offer learning opportunities but require strict adherence to sterile cockpit rules and respect for the instructional environment to prevent distractions.
Flight instructors should always ask the paying student if they are comfortable with an observer, as some may prefer not to have one or expect contribution towards flight costs.
Pilots in command (PICs) are responsible for comprehensive passenger management, including clear safety briefings, defining roles, addressing discomfort, and being prepared to terminate a flight if necessary.

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One of the first questions I ask a private pilot candidate is, “Who will your first passenger be?” Most often, it is a family member. We talk about the limitation noted in FAR 61.89 that states carriage of passengers is not permitted by student pilots since they cannot legally act as pilot in command (PIC) in an aircraft with passengers. However, during dual lessons the flight instructor is the PIC, therefore, if your aircraft has a back seat, you could legally carry a passenger.

Having a passenger in the back seat gives the learner/pilot the opportunity to practice and apply weight-and-balance calculations and to experience what a heavier airplane feels like. It can be an eye-opening experience.