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6 Answers

Proving invalid training in court

Asked by: 3871 views , , ,
Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Private Pilot

I joined a part 61 flight school, as the owner and chief flight instructor offered to instruct me for my initial CFI certificate. I paid him $10,000 to train me for this certificate. As time went by, red flags came up. He asked me to teach a student landings. This student began training only a month back. I refused. Then he asked me to train another student the same way, as he would be busy traveling. I refused again. Another time he asked me to fly with this gentleman who was an instructor 21 years ago. He wanted me to train this instructor in flight and help get him familiar with flying again. This gentleman never trained for over 21 years. I refused again. That is when I went to my logbook and found his certificate number. I used the FAA database to look my instructor up. To my horror, I found out that my instructor/the owner/chief flight instructor got his CFI certificate in April of this year and his ground instructor certificate in February of this year. He has only worked in his own flight school, part 61, which means that all the training I have done with him this far has been invalid. He billed me for $2000 worth in training(ground + flights). He refuses to give me the remainder of my money back because he has gone and bought a second plane with my money. He has also deleted my access to FlightSchedue Pro, which is the school account. I have reported this to the FAA, FBI, FTC, police etc. I did sign a contract, but this is clearly a breach of contract. Now I have to take him to court, and since its small claims court, the burden of proof falls on me. How do I get credible documentations stating that the school is part 61? The FAA told me that the investigation is ongoing and hence they will try to get me some information before my hearing. Could I take an FAA inspector to court as a witness? The gentleman at the FSDO validated the fact that my instructor isn't training me legally. Can anyone just call themselves a chief flight instructor for a part 61 school, or do you have to meet a FAR requirement? What documentations could I present in court besides the usual FARs, logbook entries, conversations etc? Any help is appreciated.

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6 Answers



  1. Russ Roslewski on Dec 27, 2019

    I am sorry to hear this. Most people don’t ever bother to check the credentials of the instructors at the school they’re training at – but we should.

    You’re suing for $10,000 – to me that warrants the involvement of a lawyer. State-specific laws come into play. Especially since even if you win, you now have to collect, and my understanding is that can be harder than the lawsuit.

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  2. KDS on Dec 27, 2019

    Mark will be the subject matter expert on this. However, I’ll comment for now.

    Part 61 is the Wild West of flight training. It’s anyone who holds a CFI and has access to an aircraft and calls themselves a flight school.

    My experience with small claims court is that it can run the whole spectrum from a shining example of what the justice system should be to something that is disgrace. It all depends on the judge. The best outcome you can hope for is that the other side doesn’t show up on the day of court and you get a summary judgment. If they do show up, you need to present your case a clearly and quickly as possible in a well organized manner.

    It’s almost certain that your county will publish instructions on how to sue in small claims court. Get it and read it carefully.

    The first stumbling block you will have is finding out who to name in the lawsuit. If it is a person, that is easy. If it is a company, finding the Agent for Service can be tricky, depending on where you live.

    Then, when all is said and done, if you get a judgment, it is up to you to try to collect. That can be tougher than getting the judgment, if they don’t pay and my guess is they won’t. You have to find something to attach and get the sheriff to go out and attach it. Does the person or company you’re suing have a bank account? Do you know the account number? Do they own something? Imagine trying to collect from someone who lives in a rented house and drives a leased car whose bank account you cannot find.

    Hopefully, Mark will see your question and give you better guidance since this is his area of expertise.

    The one good thing I can say about going to court is that every time I’ve been in court, it has been quite an education. Unfortunately, some of them were very expensive educations.

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  3. KDS on Dec 27, 2019

    To Russ’s point of checking credentials, I do know of a pilot flying after having all of his certificates revoked. I also know of a flight instructor who continued flying with a falsified medical certificate. Any knowledgeable person who would have looked at it would have known it was falsified. Last but not least, I know of a mechanic who performed and signed off an annual inspection without having IA authority. So, to use a classic old line, “Trust, but verify.”

    On the other hand, having a certificate or an authority doesn’t guarantee anything. Some of the worst pilots and worst instructors I’ve ever known had all the necessary stuff and then some.

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  4. Mark Kolber on Dec 28, 2019

    I can’t really give much better advice than has already been given. flightbug, you hit it on the head with a major concern – explaining Part 61 flight training, including the regulatory requirements.

    I can’t comment on whether you have a case or not, but to the extent you have one, it is not going to be about “bad instruction.” It’s going to be far more about instruction that was invalid. For example, if the proof is that all the training you were receiving from him was toward your CFI certificate, and he was not a 24-mo/200-hr CFI. That’s technical stuff a typical judge is not likely to be familiar with.

    Small claims is a maybe in terms of better or worse. States vary enormously on the amount one can sue for and whether lawyers are even permitted. The judges run the gamut from interested to just moving people through the system.

    Getting the testimony of an FAA Inspector isn’t as simple as asking or issuing a state subpoena. There is a whole Part of the DOT regulations on securing employee testimony and documents. I will link to the current regulations separately since this site sometimes blocks external links and the posts which contain them. But the essence is, there is a a formal mechanism and significantly, requests for testimony at trial will be denied (you can do one deposition of an employee).

    My suggestion is this. It will be worth the investment to sit down with an aviation attorney in your jurisdiction. They can help with assessing your case, making a decision on whether small claims is a viable option, and if,so how to best put your case together and present it. Alternatively, they can tell you what it will cost for an attorney to represent you, the practical limitations of that course, and the likely costs.

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  5. Mark Kolber on Dec 28, 2019

    Here’s the link
    https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=b0135a64624d8839eff17cd921f83c4e&mc=true&n=pt49.1.9&r=PART&ty=HTML

    Best place to start to get an overview is section 9.9, “Legal proceedings between private litigants: General rules”

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  6. N12706 on Jan 02, 2020

    As disappointed as you are, and rightfully so, I think there is a better use of your time and money than chasing a petty crook. Fact of life that the world is full of crooks, I’ve been in business and been involved in aviation for over 50 years and have been ripped off more times than I want to admit. However, I never let the bas***ds get me down, I cut my losses and moved on. My advice to you is to put a value on the experience and life lessons that you have gained from this experience. You are a little poorer $ wise but a lot richer knowledge and experience wise. Chalk it up to education, which is always expensive. Move on, keep looking for those people you can trust, be careful about who you share your experiences with as the crooks know how to prey on the weak. Aviation will always be around, and believe it or not, $10,000 doesn’t buy much these days, especially when it comes to flying. I’m a CFI for 15 years, 75 students, 46 different makes and models of aircraft but it’s always been my hobby. Your story sounds similar to the way I started out. My saying is if it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger. Oh, by the way, the reason they named it “Court” is because “Hell” was already taken. Best of luck to you.

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