Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Training Scenarios Violate Regulations

Asked by: 6775 views , , ,
FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

We train pilots for flying in remote regions. There are several scenarios which violate normal pattern protocols, e.g., (1) preparing students for right-hand patterns, (2) certain high-performance aircraft, the safest departure pattern is non-standard. Common sense says we can train pilots for scenarios, but is there a statute that applies? Declare an emergency and you can do whatever is required, including violating the reg's. Is there a similar statute somewhere that says one can violate the reg's in order to train for real-life situations? (Note: we're not talking about unsafe or foolish flying, we're talking about controlled situations, e.g. flying practice right-hand patterns at a low-traffic, class G airport and the like.)

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.

2 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Sep 23, 2013

    There is no fine print in 91.126 which allows an airplane to fly a non-standard approach.
    There is also no wording at all concerning a departure path.

    If you need to teach someone how to fly a right hand pattern, why can’t you either find a nearby airport with a right hand pattern or go to a towered airport where you can fly a right hand pattern.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Sep 24, 2013

    Agree with Kris. And I don’t understand – you say you’re training pilots for remote areas but you’re already so remote you can’t find a nearby towered or right pattern airport?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 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.