Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

8 Answers

Would be legal to let a passenger make a couple of turns?

Asked by: 4016 views ,
FAA Regulations

i see a lot of advertisings for "Adventure flights" in small singles during which the passanger in the front seat is allowed to fly the plane, is it legal? i mean, if a person doesn't hold a student certificate (not medical) supposely can't touch the controls. Am i right?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

8 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Feb 20, 2013

    A student pilot certificate is required to solo, for various endorsements, but is not a requirement to receive dual instruction. It is sometimes a good idea to obtain a student pilot certificate before you start training, but it certainly isn’t a requirement.

    For that matter, a private pilot may permit a non pilot to manipulate the controls while in flight, but must remain in overall control of the situation as they are still acting as the pilot in command and fully responsible for the safety of the flight. The difference is that neither the pilot nor non pilot may log the time.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Feb 20, 2013

    There are rules about who may =act as pilot in command=. For a student pilot that includes an endorsed student pilot certificate and logbook before solo flight is permitted.

    There are rules about who may =act as a second-in-command =in operations that require one.

    There are rules in Part 135 and 121 prohibiting commercial carriers from permitting a non-qualified pilot to even touching the controls.

    Aside from those few, there is no rule about whom a pilot in command may allow to fly the airplane. So long as the “real” pilot is in charge of the flight, he can let a 2-year old do the touching and flying.

    On the secondary loggin issue John brought up, I’ll agree there is no basis for the non-pilot to log anything (unless the pilot is also a CFI giving instruction). On whether the PIC may log that flight, I’ll leave to another discussion.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. John D. Collins on Feb 20, 2013

    Mark,

    Read the following FAA General Counsel opinion as it deals with the issues of acting as PIC and logging.time when the acting PIC is not the sole manipulator of the controls.

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2009/Speranza.pdf

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Mark Kolber on Feb 20, 2013

    I’m familiar with the opinion: Assuming a single-pilot operation, when there are two certificated pilots on board rated in category and class, the sole manipulator is the only one who may log PIC time, regardless of which one is acting as PIC.

    I don’t agree the analysis necessarily applies to a situation in which the result is =no one= would be able to count the time. That scenario is discussed in my FAQ.

    Yes, I will agree you would have a hard time justifying the logging bu the PIC flying with a 2 year old using the words of the reg. That’s also true of other logging situations, such as allowing a checkride applicants to log PIC – not one word in 61.51 authorizes it.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  5. Kyler on Feb 20, 2013

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the pilot can still log Total Time even if he/she is not manipulating the controls. I understand you can log total time as long as you have a pilot certificate and are in the front seat or have access to some controls.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  6. Mark Kolber on Feb 21, 2013

    I don’t have it handy, but there was a Chief Counsel opinion some years back that indicated that “other flying time” was no longer a proper category for counting flight time. In essence, if there is nothing that fits into some 61.51 category, there is no flight time that is countable.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  7. Kris Kortokrax on Feb 21, 2013

    I would say that it depends upon what is meant by “Adventure flight”.

    The fact that you said the “Adventure flights” are advertised would of necessity exclude flights where a pilot might take his family or friends for a flight and allow them to manipulate the controls.

    If “Adventure flight” means a demo flight lesson, then no problem with the passenger in front manipulating the controls.

    If “Adventure flight” means a sightseeing ride conducted under 91.147, I would say that the passenger in front may not manipulate the controls. In this case, the pilot must be drug tested and hold a Commercial certificate with a Second class medical. The people on board might be an unrelated group of people. The people in the back have a reasonable expectation that the person manipulating the controls is a qualified pilot. I suspect that the FAA would not allow this.

    121 and 135 have already been addressed.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  8. JB on Feb 22, 2013

    I know the question was “legally”…but practically speaking, it’s done all the time in all kinds of aircraft…props, turboprops, and even jets 🙂

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.