From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!alice!rabbit!ark
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Title: safety pilots
Article-I.D.: rabbit.1039
Posted: Tue Jan 11 12:33:11 1983
Received: Wed Jan 12 06:54:20 1983

What, exactly, are the requirements for a safety pilot?

Now, before you all jump on me saying "that's obvious," let me point
out a few questions and possible answers.

The only place I can find anything in the FARs discussing requirements
for safety pilots is a section saying that for a pilot to fly under
the hood, the other pilot seat must be occupied by "an appropriately
rated safety pilot."  This section was later amended to say that an
airplane with a single throw-over control wheel could be used for
simulated instrument flying provided the pilot in command thought
it was safe to do so.  This is presumably a bone thrown to Bonanza
owners (a Bonanza bonanza?)

What does "appropriately rated" mean?  Presumably, it means "holding
all the ratings necessary to fly the airplane in question".  What else
could it mean?  Well, here are some questions:

Is the safety pilot the pilot in command?  Surely not.

In that case, there are a bunch of requirements that the pilot in command
must meet but that perhaps a safety pilot need not, since they are not
ratings.  For example:

	Must a safety pilot be current?

	Must a pilot have an instructor's signoff to act as safety
pilot in a complex airplane?  (remember, said signoff is not a rating)

	Is a safety pilot a "required flight crewmember?"  If so,
can he log time as second in command?  If not, is he subject to the
eight-hour bottle-to-throttle rule?

	Does a safety pilot need a current medical certificate?

If you still think the answers to these questions are clear, you might
like to know that I called the FAA once and asked them about it.  The
response of the guy I spoke to was essentially this:  "I'm not allowed to
interpret the regulations for you.  It doesn't matter what my opinion is,
because if you are charged with violating the regulations the fact that I
told you it was OK doesn't count for anything.  My personal opinion is that
a safety pilot need not be current and doesn't need a signoff for a
complex airplane, and I agree with you that I don't see anything in
the regulations that addresses the issue directly."

So much for getting a straight answer from the FAA.  How about you, dear
netland readers?  Do you know of any facts that might help clear up this
issue?  I would particularly appreciate pointers to court cases, magazine
articles, and so on.