Instructor liability

alpha1 · Post by **alpha1** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:44 pm

lets say you're an instructor and one day a student of yours bends the plane and hurts themselves while training solo...or flying with you for that matter...assuming you've done nothing wrong in your instruction, could you still be sued anyway??

Oleo 4 · Post by **Oleo 4** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:17 pm

If a thief can break into your house, trip and fall on your kitchen knife, cut himself and then sue you for it........ sure why not!

The question is - Did the instructor do everything in his power to make certain the student was aware of all the hundreds of thousands of combinations that could of led up to the accident!

I don't know anything about law but I would imagine that nobody is exempt from anything in the business, someone has to be responsible!

alpha1 · Post by **alpha1** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:28 pm

sadly i agree with you; in this litigious society in which we live, where suing people seems to be the national past time, it just seems a shame that careers and livelihoods could be ruined by one single act over which you had no control.

C-GPFG · Post by **C-GPFG** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:35 pm

Can the student sue the instructor directly, or would they have to sue the school?

Oleo 4 · Post by **Oleo 4** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:46 pm

I'm thinking they could go after both in a civil suit.... This is a good question, one that now will be in the back of my head when I send my next bunch of first solo's in jan...

Lets hope non of us are in this boat - fly safe everyone

alpha1 · Post by **alpha1** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:53 pm

im guessing here, but i think the lawyers would cast a pretty wide net, and go after anyone.....instructors, flight schools, manufacturers, suppliers etc......any lawyers in here care to comment?

cyxe · Post by **cyxe** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:00 pm

If the question is "Can you be sued" the answer is yes.

It doesn't take a lot to initiate a lawsuit. Just someone with money angry at you for any reason.

The real question is will they win. And that of course all depends on many things, including (but not limited to, unfortunately), the circumstances and facts.

Offset · Post by **Offset** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:37 pm

All commercial operators are required to carry liablility insurance which covers the actions of their employees, I would imagine that any FTU would have to carry similar coverage. Freelance Instructors on the other hand wouldn't likely be covered.

2low · Post by **2low** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:50 pm

Its my dick in a box.

Pratt X 3 · Post by **Pratt X 3** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:42 am

Step 1: Cut a hole in the box.

Step 2: Put your junk in the box.

Step 3: Have her open the box.

C-FCFL · Post by **C-FCFL** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:26 am

C-GPFG · Post by **C-GPFG** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:59 pm

I couldn't get that song out of my head all week.

shitdisturber · Post by **shitdisturber** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:05 pm

Believe it or not, in this case Transport has it right. Cover your ass by putting in lots of comments in the PTR; especially in cases where the student is having difficulties. While I'm sure that's not the reason TC is so anal about comments; having lots written down can literally save your bacon.

. ._ · Post by **. ._** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:51 am

shitdisturber wrote:Believe it or not, in this case Transport has it right. Cover your ass by putting in lots of comments in the PTR; especially in cases where the student is having difficulties. While I'm sure that's not the reason TC is so anal about comments; having lots written down can literally save your bacon.

I'm not an instructor, but that makes sense to me.

-istp

cyyz · Post by **cyyz** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 5:12 am

alpha1 wrote:
1...lets say you're an instructor and one day a student of yours bends the plane and hurts themselves while training solo..

2...or flying with you for that matter...assuming you've done nothing wrong in your instruction, could you still be sued anyway??

2... Very much so, you're PIC, you're in command, so, I don't know how you'd tell a jury, tribunal, "ah, yeah, he(student) bent the plane..."

1.. Tricky, but you're the one who signs students out to go to air excersises, so, if they're a CPL student but have a PPL, you wouldn't need to sign them out so you're clear, but the Student pilots(literally) would and should be able to sue,

a. You train them to do something.
b. You watch them do it,
C. You sign them out to go and practice, but you hopefully didn't sign them out knowing they were idiots....

It's like solos, you let them go when they're ready, so, call a few FTU's, see if anyone had a student crash and hurt themselves, obviously, not ready to go and solo, but obviously someone thought they were and see if the student sued and the verdict....

So again, 1. you're PIC, you take blame. 2, you're signing them out in theory, so I'd think you'd be liable, but best bet to call a few FTU's or TC and see if they have an case studies/presidence on the matter.

But as someone mentioned wouldn't the ftu have insurance to cover these sort of incidents?

Instructor liability

Instructor liability

Re: Instructor liability