What are the penalties if a student is found to have inappropriately operated an aircraft?

If it is determined that a student pilot has inappropriately operated an aircraft, he or she will be grounded until a Safety Review Board reviews the incident and makes a determination. The outcome of the Safety Review Board could result in a number of penalties from further grounding and additional training to dismissal from the program depending on the severity of the activities.

Examples of disciplinary actions taken within the past 1.5 years:

The three following cases serve as examples of what happens when students violate either our professional standards of conduct or flight operations as outlined in the Airport Operations Manual. Each of these cases has occurred within the past 1.5 years:

• Subject A was a flight instructor who violated a federal regulation by taking an aircraft into an area of known icing. Subject A was immediately suspended from flying and a Safety Review Board was called (the Aeronautics Program has a comprehensive, formal and active safety program). Subject A was found to be in violation of both the Airport Operations Manual and Federal Regulations and was terminated.
• Subject B was a flight instructor who violated professional standards of conduct in behavior and actions around both his students and members of the outside community. Subject B was counseled and given opportunities to improve upon Subject B’s performance and behaviors throughout the semester. When Subject B continued to violate professional standards of conduct, Subject B’s instructor contract was not renewed.
• Subjects C and D were serving as student and instructor on a flight when, during the performance of a particular maneuver, it was observed that they came close to placing the aircraft in an unsafe condition. Because of the open culture of safety the Aeronautics Program fosters, Subjects C and D reported this condition to the Supervisor of Flight upon landing. As a result, a program-wide Safety Stand Down was conducted. Immediately all instances of the particular maneuver were disallowed. All flight instructors were required to attend mandatory training given by an outside aviation professional and then were given a check-ride on the maneuver before they were allowed to once again perform the maneuver.