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Our company plane can be flown by single pilot without the need of a copilot. Several times while flying in the company plane our pilot allowed one of our company owner's family members take off and land the plane while a number of employees were on board. Both in take off and landing the plane got violently out of control jerking back and forth to the point that everyone on board was in danger. Our pilot took back over control of the aircraft barely averting disaster. Several of us that have been on those terrifying rides have made it a point not to fly if he is going with.

Is it legal for our pilot to let him do this with us on board? In the USA

bogl
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user40597
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    What country? If the US, do you know if the flights were part 91 or part 135? – StephenS May 24 '19 at 08:36
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    I updated the tags to "regulations", could you please add the relevant country regulations (e.g. "faa-regulations" for US)? – Bianfable May 24 '19 at 08:36
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    @MartijnVissers While certainly related, that question doesn't specifically ask about take off and landing. – Bianfable May 24 '19 at 08:37
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    I agree it is a duplicate. Landing and taking off is part of flying. – Juan Jimenez May 24 '19 at 12:22
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    That question seems to be focused on private pilot operations, this seems to not fall into that category. – GdD May 24 '19 at 12:24
  • Lnafziger's answer to that question covers the applicable regulations. If the flight is Part 91, it's legal. If Part 135, it's not. – StephenS May 24 '19 at 16:29
  • While it may be technically legal, the owner's insurance company will probably have something to say about it in the event there is a claim. The owner and pilot need to understand and assume that if there is an accident claim with significant loss, and an insurance company, or NTSB, investigation concluded a non-pilot was in control, depending on details buried deep in the insurance contract, the insurer may decline to pay and they'll be in a WAY bigger world of hurt compared to just getting busted over violating a regulation. – John K May 24 '19 at 17:28
  • Even operating under part 91 I would argue the legality. If you are manipulating the controls you are acting as PIC, and there are specific currency requirement for carrying passengers. That these passengers are employees, and presumably compelled to be there, (vs friends just out for some sightseeing) and control of the aircraft was given to a non pilot during the most critical phases of flight makes these actions very troubling. This is definitely something that should be brought up with the director of flight operations. – Michael Hall May 24 '19 at 17:42
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    @MichaelHall "Acting as PIC" means they are legally responsible for the flight, regardless of who is actually flying. Under Part 91, there is no requirement that the pilot flying be licensed. Consider flight training where the instructor is PIC and the student is doing the flying, including takeoffs and landings. – StephenS May 24 '19 at 18:26
  • @StephenS, you make a good point, but consider that the CFI is specifically qualified to allow unqualified personnel to operate the aircraft during all phases of flight, and normally does so without passengers. I understand that the CFRs don't differentiate critical phases of flight from letting someone make shallow turns at altitude to get a feel for flying, but my point is that letting a non-pilot take off and land with company passengers on board shows extremely poor judgment. – Michael Hall May 24 '19 at 18:36
  • Of course this is opinion, and must be balanced against the level of danger of a non-pilot passenger perceives. For some people mild turbulence is extremely disconcerting... – Michael Hall May 24 '19 at 18:38
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    @MichaelHall Poor judgment, yes. Illegal, no. Unless 91.13(a) comes into play, of course, but there is a huge gap between what non-pilots are comfortable with and what is actually unsafe. – StephenS May 24 '19 at 19:31

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