A good friend came to me for advice to get her pilots license a couple weeks ago and I recommended the FBO I am at. So she started taking lessons a couple weeks ago, and is progressing nicely. On Friday, she was doing her first lesson on landings, and on her fourth and final landing of the day, the plane veered off the runway. Her instructor did not have her hands on the controls at all and didn't take control of the plane until it started moving off the runway. They didn't think they hit anything and taxied back and parked. She got a call from the owner of the FBO yesterday saying there is a dent in the bottom of the plane and repairs will be around $1000 and is expecting her to pay for it.
My question is, who is responsible for any damage? Would it be the instructor and the FBO, since the instructor was the PIC? Being the 4th landing the student has ever done, the instructor should have been helping a bit more with the landing, and should have taken the controls sooner as this is something that could have been avoided.
My question is, who is responsible for any damage? Would it be the instructor and the FBO, since the instructor was the PIC? Being the 4th landing the student has ever done, the instructor should have been helping a bit more with the landing, and should have taken the controls sooner as this is something that could have been avoided.