Title: Single Pilot Jets | Flying
Headings: Single Pilot Jets
Single Pilot Jets
Content: Single Pilot Jets | Flying
Single Pilot Jets
The training, insurance and safety aspects of flying solo in a business jet. By J. Mac McClellan
December 15, 2006
Single pilot jets
From the beginning the FAA has treated jets differently. In almost every area of certification the standards for jets have been more stringent than for propeller-driven airplanes, and one of those jet standards had been a requirement for two pilots. That rule remained in force until 1977 when Cessna won approval for single-pilot operation of its new Citation I-SP, and now many models of business jets are approved for single-pilot operation. Most business jets are certified in the transport category because they have maximum certified takeoff weights greater than 12,500 pounds, the demarcation between large and small aircraft. One of the many certification rule changes between small and large aircraft is a requirement for at least two pilots in the large transport category airplane. It's easy to understand why two pilots would be required in a transport airplane, given the greater complexity and generally higher performance. By their very nature transport airplanes are designed to carry larger numbers of people, or a greater amount of cargo, so there is a greater risk to a larger group, and certification theory has always demanded a higher standard as risk increases. Society, through the FAA, grants us wide latitude to take chances with our own lives, or with those of a few friends or family members, but that all changes when passenger capacity increases. Nobody wants to operate really large airplanes - including larger business jets - with a single pilot, but light business jets are a different issue.