Why Should You Fly with a Safety Pilot?

As pilots, we have several diverse reasons for general aviation flying. Maybe your dream has been to fly for a living, and you are training to become a professional pilot. Perhaps you are already working as a CFI or a career pilot looking to keep your skills sharp. Maybe you fly as a hobby and look forward to interacting with other pilots wherever you go.

Regardless of your motivation, having a safety pilot join you can help you maintain proficiency, lighten the workload, share costs, and enjoy each flight that much more.

What is a Safety Pilot?

A safety pilot, as the name implies, is responsible for the safety of the flight. In the Federal regulations, 14 CFR 61.109 (c) states that when an aircraft is being operated under simulated instrument flight, a control seat must be occupied by a safety pilot with at least a private pilot certificate in that category and class.

When a pilot is using a view limiting device, “under the hood” as we call it, an extra set of eyes is legally required because the flight is being conducted in VFR conditions. The safety pilot’s responsibility is to watch for traffic, potentially hazardous terrain, and weather during the flight while the other pilot is distracted and has no visual information off which to base decisions.

Is Your Safety Pilot “The One”?

Before you get into the plane with just any safety pilot, you will want to make sure your flying experience with them will be as productive and stress-free as possible.

Obviously, you want to make sure you have a good relationship with your safety pilot. The inside of an airplane makes for tight quarters, and that space seems even smaller when you are butting heads, so to speak, with the individual in the pilot’s seat. Take some time to get to know one another while on the ground.

Things to consider when getting to know a safety pilot include how they communicate in the plane. Are they chatty while you are more subdued? Does their vernacular about things like traffic or navigation align with the terminology you typically use? Are you comfortable handing over to the safety pilot duties like radio communication or adjusting the GPS? After all, pilots love to push buttons. Just make sure your safety pilot will not push your buttons as you strive to become better pilots.

We learn from others’ experiences, and pilots can learn from what other pilots have learned in the air. Safety pilots can sharpen each other’s skills in the feedback and assistance they give. Part of your pre-flight planning with your safety pilot should include an agreement on what each pilot will do for one another.

Do you want your safety pilot to look for traffic and obstacles outside the plane while you focus on what is occurring inside the aircraft? Would you prefer they enjoy the ride while you practice managing what is happening both inside and outside your aircraft? Are you open to constructive criticism and tips from your safety pilot? The latter question is especially important if your safety pilot is more experienced than you.

Helping keep another pilot safe is a noble cause, but there are many other benefits to serving as a safety pilot.

Building Hours

The most obvious benefit to being or having a safety pilot is splitting the rental or operating cost of the aircraft. Because the safety pilot is a required crewmember, both pilots can log flight time. Make sure you log your safety time correctly. Only the sole manipulator of the controls — the pilot flying and under the hood — can log cross country time. The safety pilot may only log pilot-in-command total time. Either way, logging time is beneficial when you are building time toward a commercial certificate or airline minimums.

Building Experience

You have found a safety pilot with whom to fly. Use this opportunity to gain experience, push the limits of your comfort zone, and improve as a pilot.

Most of your training to this point may have been out of an uncontrolled field with little jet traffic and of course, no control tower. You might have always wanted to take long-distance flights to other states or regions to which you have never flown with your instructor. Perhaps you want to go into busier airspace around metropolitan areas and large airports. The thought of this may seem daunting and anxiety-inducing. Having another set of eyes and ears will aid greatly.

Flying with a safety pilot is a perfect time to practice CRM (Crew Resource Management). If the pilot flying is becoming overwhelmed or task saturated, the safety pilot could handle the radios and aid with checklist usage. The pilot flying can then focus on maintaining positive control during a stressful situation.

Flying Approaches

It is important to pick up a VFR flight following while en route to your destination. It is also easy to fall into the trap of flying somewhere direct, canceling radar services once you have the airport in sight, and proceeding visually as you normally would while flying VFR.

Flying straight and level while wearing a view limiting device for extended periods of time while en route will only go so far in developing your instrument proficiency. However, flying with a safety pilot is the perfect opportunity to perform practice instrument approaches and hone in on your instrument flying skills. Ask ATC for a practice instrument approach, and they more than likely will be able to accommodate you.

Treat this as if you were in actual instrument meteorological conditions. Practice briefing and flying the approach every time you go somewhere. By the time you have reached the instrument rating hour requirements and are nearing the checkride, you will have that much more real-world experience to help you feel ready.

A safety pilot needs to be extra cautious while flying a practice approach in VFR conditions into an uncontrolled field, as there will likely be other VFR traffic in the area and ATC will not be able to protect the airspace.

Having Fun

Learning should be fun. You absorb information better when you are having a good time and are actively engaged in what you are doing. Being a good safety pilot is not only about watching for traffic, but also being personable. Although your goal may be to progress as a pilot or build flight time, there is no reason you and your safety pilot cannot have fun while doing it. In fact, it is in your best interest to do so.

Plan a flight that will both challenge your skills and provide you some sort of reward. Make a day of it: Go somewhere with an airport restaurant or grab a crew car from an FBO and get lunch or explore the area. A trip to the beach is the most common and arguably the most enjoyable flight you can make.

When you look at the amount of time you need to build toward a certain goal, the numbers can seem daunting. By serving as a safety pilot, you can make the time pass in a fun, educational way. Even if you are not building hours, flying with and as a safety pilot keeps your skills sharp and proficient, which is the goal of every pilot.

While on a train commuting to his university class one day, Ryan Naazeer saw a plane about to land. That one glance led to a series of changes in Ryan's life. He researched how to become a pilot and was instantly fascinated. Learn more about Ryan and the rest of the Elon Aviation staff at www.elonaviation.com.