Solo endorsement, an expiring medical and a helpful chief instructor
You are the supervising instructor for a student pilot whose first supervised solo is planned for the 20th; it is now the 8th. On checking documents you find: student pilot licence valid; Class 2 medical certificate expiring on the 17th; the student's last three dual flights were with a different instructor, whose logbook entries are signed; the pre-solo written test was passed four months ago with 82%; no solo endorsement has been entered anywhere yet. Your own flight instructor rating is current; your Class 1 medical expires on the 30th; you have flown 3.4 hours in the last 90 days, with the last three takeoffs and landings on the 5th. The chief instructor says: "Sign the endorsement now. The medical runs to the 17th, so a flight on the 20th is only three days out - nobody will notice, and he is revalidating anyway." You have flown with this student twice, most recently 11 days ago.
1. Identify everything in the scenario that is unlawful or unsafe, and explain what the regulations actually require before a first solo may take place.
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The medical is the decisive issue. A Class 2 medical certificate expiring on the 17th does not authorise flight on the 20th, and an instructor's endorsement cannot extend it. The planned solo is therefore not legal on that date regardless of who signs what. The fix is administrative and simple: the student renews the medical with an AME, produces the certificate, and the date moves.
Second, the endorsement itself. A solo endorsement must be given by an instructor who has flown with the student and found them competent, and it must be entered in the logbook with the conditions and validity period the regulations require. That I have flown with the student twice is not automatically sufficient: I need to satisfy myself on the current standard, and the endorsement should not be inherited from the other instructor's flights. Check the period of validity and the conditions in the personnel licensing part of the Nig. CARs currently in force (Part 2 in the version I work to - confirm the amendment), and in the school's operations manual.
Third, the pre-solo written test. Four months may exceed any validity period your regulations or ops manual attach to it; check rather than assume, and re-test if required.
Fourth, the CFI's instruction. Signing an endorsement for a flight the documents do not permit is a false record. It exposes the student to enforcement action, exposes the instructor personally, and is reportable. "Nobody will notice" is not a defence; the certificate of airworthiness file, the medical date and the logbook date are all discoverable after an accident.
Fifth, my own position: my Class 1 is valid for the period in question and my recent experience is not obviously deficient, but I would check the instructor recency rule in the same part before acting as instructor on the day.
2. How do you handle the chief instructor's instruction, the student's expectations and the paperwork, in a way that protects both safety and your own position?
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Refuse the specific act, not the person, and do it in writing.
With the CFI: restate the constraint factually and immediately - "the medical expires on the 17th, the flight is on the 20th, so the flight cannot be authorised; I will sign the endorsement the day he produces a valid certificate and I have flown with him again". Put that in an email so the conversation has a record, and copy the head of training if the pressure continues. If the CFI persists in directing an unlawful endorsement, that is a safety and compliance matter for the accountable manager and, if unresolved within the organisation, for the NCAA. The school's safety management system exists for exactly this kind of report; use it rather than carrying the issue informally.
With the student: do not blame the CFI and do not blame the regulations. Say what is needed and by when: "Book the AME this week, send me the new certificate, and we will do one more dual on the 18th or 19th, then fly on the 21st." Give the student the checklist so the delay is bounded and visible.
Paperwork: note the delay and the reason in the training file; do not enter an endorsement with a date that cannot be supported; keep the medical expiry date checked at the pre-flight briefing, not only at booking. The endorsement, when given, states the aircraft type, the conditions (wind limits, aerodrome, supervision) and the validity period, and the student signs to acknowledge the limits.
3. The student renews the medical on the 16th. Set out the full pre-solo check you would run before authorising the flight, and what the endorsement itself should say.
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Run a documented check in three blocks.
Personnel. Student pilot licence valid on the day; new Class 2 medical sighted in original and dated; pre-solo written test result within any required validity; the student's logbook entries complete and signed; evidence of competence from my own recent flights, not from the other instructor's signatures; and a short oral check on go-around, wind limits and lost-communications actions.
Aircraft. Certificate of airworthiness and certificate of registration current; maintenance release valid for the flight; mass and balance computed for the solo fuel load; fuel quantity and grade; tyre, brake and control-surface check; radio and transponder serviceable; first-aid kit and fire extinguisher as required; insurance covering solo flight.
Environment and plan. Weather within the briefed limits, including crosswind against what the student has actually demonstrated; NOTAMs and aerodrome status; runway and circuit direction; fuel endurance and a nominated divert plan; a clear brief that the solo is circuits only, no passengers, no flight into IMC, and a stated wind limit at which the student is to land and stop.
The endorsement in the logbook should state: name and licence number of the student, aircraft type and registration, that the student is competent to fly solo, the conditions and limitations (aerodrome, circuit only, maximum crosswind, day/VFR only), the date and the instructor's signature and licence number, and the period for which it is valid. I would also record in the training file that the medical and licence were checked and on what date.