Signing off ICCs and BFRs
Oops, sorry, IPCs and Flight Reviews.
You have to use some judgment and take your trainee's needs into account. While at ERAU, I gave IPCs regularly to a senior flight line faculty member. This man gave me my new-hire standardization training. I respected him and he respected me. He knew all the rules and AIM intimately. He didn't always fly to standards for me, but I felt that he was safe, so I'd sign him off. I knew and he knew he was not going to launch into hard IFR.
Riddle instructors would sign off each other for IPCs and flight reviews. We expected nothing less of each other than Commercial-Instrument PTS standards. That was not unreasonable at all because (1) we were current; (2) we were setting the examples for our students, (3) we should be proficient; we were demonstrating maneuvers to students to standards and (4) we indeed were taking our students into real IMC conditions. The aeronautical knowledge was an obvious given.
In Civil Air Patrol each pilot has to take an annual Form 5 checkride. CAP regulations required that pilots had to fly to Private Pilot PTS standards or better to pass their Form 5s. Most people only needed 1.0 to 1.5. I always signed off a biennial for my folks because I felt they had exhibited the requrements of 14 CFR 61.56 if they met PTS standards.
I had one older member come to me every year for his Form 5. This was a retired AF general who had been flying for years, but did not fly much each year. I never really looked forward to giving him his Form 5 because his flights took hours. Once he got the rust off and flew to PTS standards, I signed him off.
Having said all this, I agree 100% with 350 Driver's decision and rationale. I would have done the exact same thing. I assume his trainee was not a regular customer but someone off the street. If it is someone you know and whose abilities you know, you should keep these considerations in mind. Use some judgment. But, if it is a stranger, you have every right to satisfy yourself that the person is safe. 14 CFR 61.57(d) states that an IPC consists of "a representative number of tasks required by the instrument rating practical test." Therefore, it is not unreasonable to apply PTS standards as a yardstick of the person's abilities. Moreover, this attorney should try reading the law (the FARs). He'd see that 14 CFR 61.193 and 61.195 vests flight instructors with the authority, i.e. the "position," to judge his skills, age notwithstanding. I work for attorneys and am not surprised by this guy's attitude. Attorneys typically can't stand it if someone whom they regard as a lesser person tells them what to do.
Good decision on 350 Driver's part. That's my two cents.
