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:
Flight instruction carries significant liability, with Part 61 placing direct responsibility on the individual Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) for solo endorsements, while Part 141 typically shifts liability to the flight school.
Experienced CFIs often implement strict preventative measures, such as requiring documented weather briefings and CFI notification for solo flights, to mitigate personal liability risks from student errors.
Flight schools respond to incidents by tightening aircraft access and scheduling policies, and may remove students exhibiting hazardous attitudes, all driven by a desire to avoid legal responsibility.
The pervasive fear of lawsuits in aviation education can lead to restricted opportunities, such as denied partnerships for flight training programs, as institutions prioritize liability avoidance.
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.
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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.
