When something happens, authorities investigating will come back to the flight school and the CFI to see if there were any red flags. [Photo credit: Wayman Aviation]
Key Takeaways:
Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs) operating under Part 61 bear direct liability for the actions of students they endorse for solo flight, leading some to implement stringent endorsement caveats or avoid solo instruction altogether.
Part 141 flight schools are primarily responsible for student conduct, often responding to policy violations by disenrollment or implementing new internal policies to manage risk and protect against liability.
Significant incidents and accidents trigger investigations, often resulting in the widespread adoption of stricter flight school rules and operational procedures to prevent recurrence and limit institutional liability.
The pervasive fear of lawsuits driven by potential liability profoundly impacts flight training, sometimes hindering the establishment of new aviation education programs due to perceived risks.
Mistakes are part of the learning process. With flying, often these mistakes can be expensive, even deadly when they result in incidents or accidents.
When something happens, be sure the authorities investigating it will come back to the flight school—and the certified flight instructor (CFI) to see if there were any red flags.
CREATE A FREE ACCOUNT
Sign up to keep reading
Create a free account to continue. Already a member? Sign in below.
Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
