Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

12.19 Safety and Accident Prevention

The flying habits of the flight instructor, both during instruction and as observed by students, have a direct effect on safety. Students consider their flight instructor to be a paragon of flying proficiency whose flying habits they, consciously or unconsciously, attempt to imitate. For this reason, a flight instructor must meticulously observe the safety practices taught to students.

A flight instructor must carefully observe all regulations if a professional image is to be maintained. An instructor who is observed to fly with apparent disregard for loading limitations, weather minima or runway length creates an image of irresponsibility that many hours of conscientious flight instruction cannot correct.

How safety modelling lands across the cluster

The safety and accident prevention duty is the personal-conduct counterpart to two structural safety mechanisms:

  • The 5.1 Introduction used to teach threat identification; the safety-modelling duty makes the instructor's adherence the model's most visible test case.
  • The Unit 1 framework competency (Manage safety in the training environment) summarised on 12.2 Instructor Competencies; the safety-modelling duty develops the role-modelling element of that competency.

The fair-and-consistent-standards principle on 12.17 Fair and Consistent Standards is the operational expression of the safety-modelling duty; the impartiality and professionalism standards on 12.18 Impartiality / Professionalism are its personal-conduct counterpart. Together the three sections form the instructor-duties role-modelling discipline.

Connections