Insurance coverage for student pilots

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Tom Braeunig

Filing Flight Plan
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Tom B
In reading my Global Aerospace Insurance policy, I came across this paragraph regarding student pilots:

"STUDENT PILOT PROVISION
In consideration of payment of the premium for this policy, it is agreed that:
1. When an aircraft is being operated by a pilot named in Item 7. of the Declarations who holds a Student Pilot Certificate, this
insurance does not apply under any Coverage unless the named Student pilot is under the direct supervision of a Certified Flight
Instructor."

Once a student pilot solos, how can he be under direct supervision of a CFI. Does the CFI have to review the student's flight planning and weather for every flight. I'm just wondering how the insurance companies look at this and if there have been cases of denied coverage because they determined that the CFI wasn't providing "direct" supervision.
 
Well, direct supervision does not necessarily mean the instructor needs to be on site for each flight. The instructor could “supervise” via phone, I would think.
 
They authorize you to fly solo trainings flights yes? That’s all you need really.
 
it's a question better asked of the insurance provider.
 
I read the same thing and concluded the coverage was of no value while flying solo as a student pilot. I litigate insurance disputes for a living, and that's how I read it.
 
For what its worth all my solo lessons have been dispatched as directly supervised by my CFI. He has to approve and sign off a dispatch sheet on every solo I do, where I'm going, and what I'm doing etc. I use avemco and that satisfies it for them.
 
AsK the carrier, as suggested, but in the past: direct supervision was approving each flight, checking your flight planning & wx brief (if only by phone), setting limits on distance from the airport, which practice areas I was restricted to, & and the instructor having some idea what maneuvers I was practicing. As I progressed, reins were relaxed some.

When I was a freshly soloed pilot, it was known at our club thru a note in a passdown log that I was allowed daylight VFR pattern work without specific prior approval, but still had to get the okay from the instructor on duty regarding wind conditions if those conditions exceeded xxx X-Wind/speed.
 
The way one business/insurance company I am aware of interprets it is that each solo flight has specific written authorization from an instructor.
Usually the student sends the instructor an email with the proposed flight, the instructor reviews it and forwards it to the dispatch office for the airplane.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
Wow, I'm glad that I never read that when I was training and I never had to use my insurance, because my instructor just said, "Have fun, but don't fly if the wind exceeds X crosswind!" after I soloed the first time. The checkout procedure for the airplane consisted of walking into the FBO and grabbing the binder where you wrote name/date, Hobbs and tach time after you were done flying, and how much gas you bought with the gas card, as the rule was to top off the tanks when you were done flying. You may or may not see anyone, and most of the time, no one was there, as they were out in the shop instead or it was super early and they hadn't come into the office yet. I just assumed that was pretty normal, but I guess not, and probably happened because we'd already done ground and talked over flight planning, etc. before I soloed.

The only "endorsing" my instructor did for solo flights was for flights to other airports, which she did write in my logbook that I was allowed to fly to them.
 
As you can see, Different people interpret this statement differently. I ran across an aircraft owner's policy (who was not rated in category and class) that had the exact same verbiage in it. My main concern as the instructor was if the statement meant that we had to do the “supervised solo” bit to meet the solo/PIC requirements for the checkride, or if the instructor just needed to approve any solo activities. When we inquired with the insurance company, it was stated that the instructor just needed to authorize the solo flights, not actually ride around with the student.

The only way to get a definitive answer to the question would be to ask the insurer. Asking here or gambling that no accident will occur is also an option, but I’d prefer to know for sure.
 
I had insurance on my aircraft while I was a student pilot training for my SEL PPL. The fact that I was a student pilot and using my aircraft for training was clearly communicated to the insurance agent. My policy had a number of additional endorsements. Some particular to me, some which appeared to be boilerplate. My #2 endorsement was as follows:

================================================
Pilot Warranty Endorsement
In consideration of an additional premium of $Included, this endorsement modifies the policy to which it is attached as follows:
As respects: Nxxxx, 19xx Piper PA28181 Archer
It is a condition of this insurance that when inflight, the aircraft must at all times be operated by a pilot who possesses the appropriate FAA Pilot’s Certificate and Ratings for the flight involved and who are either Named or meets or exceeds the Open Pilot requirements as shown below:
Named Pilots:
[my name specifically listed here as the only named pilot. later during the period of this policy we asked for endorsement change and also added my primary flight instructor as a named pilot as we felt he would have better coverage as opposed to falling into the open pilot clause. Something about subrogation which if you want to know what it means then ask a lawyer. lol.]
Open Pilot requirements:
Any pilot maintaining an FAA Private or more advanced Pilot Certificate and who has logged a minimum of 300 total hours; of which at least 10 hours have been in the insured make and model aircraft.
Additional requirements/conditions:
Student pilots must be under the direct supervision of a properly qualified FAA Certified Flight Instructor who shall have specifically approved each flight undertaken by the student prior to take-off.
All other provisions of this policy remain the same.
================================================

During the course of the first year, I had a few other endorsements added. So my insurance policy was able to be modified via endorsements even after it was in effect and paid for and during the course of the year. I do not recall ever having to pay additional for the extra endorsements.

So, if you do not like the wording of your policy, there is nothing wrong with asking for an endorsement that you feel will more properly cover the specific action you want to do.

imho there is a decent change the insurance company simply provides you the endorsement as you request it.
 
My kid is on my insurance with the same clause. The insurance co said CFI endorsements and dispatch approval work, your policy may be different or the same. Tis easy to ask.

What surprised me the most, was that it was only $500 to add him.
 
I would at a minimum obtain an online weather briefing of record, and endorse the students logbook “I certify I have reviewed the weather, Notams and maneuvers to be performed prior to Joe Student’s solo flight on January 10, 2023 and I released him for the flight.
 
Thanks everyone for all the responses. I did contact my insurance broker and underwriter. Here's the answer I got:

"Under the direct supervision will mean the student pilot has the appropriate logbook endorsements and is abiding by the CFI’s stipulations. Different CFI’s may have different stipulations, for example as you mentioned, a requirement to approve flight planning/weather check, and others may not, but we leave this is the hands of the CFI to teach the student in the best way they see fit. The student pilot is not allowed to act as PIC while carrying passengers."

I believe the logbook endorsements that my grandson has cover flights to local airports less than 25 miles away.
 
Tom Braeunig said:
I believe the logbook endorsements that my grandson has cover flights to local airports less than 25 miles away.
Click to expand...

Yes, provided the instructor has given the student pilot training at the other airport including "flight in both directions over the route, entering and exiting the traffic pattern, and takeoffs and landings at the other airport." 61:93 (b)(1)(i).
 
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