Originally Posted by Westhawk
As an ATP and CFI myself, I realize that I might be found to be at least partially responsible if anything happens while I'm aboard a light aircraft being commanded by another pilot. The precedent has been established for all practical purposes. If seated at a control position and having agreed to be a safety pilot (required crew) as either SIC or as PIC, my acceptance of responsibility is self evident. If anything happens I expect to come under FAA scrutiny regardless of any agreement I and the other pilot might have made prior to the flight. My only protection in this situation is that I act accordingly by fulfilling my responsibility to see that the flight is conducted safely and in compliance with regulations. I'm just going to presume I'm held to that standard and I'll take my naps on the ground thank you!
Good advice, Westhawk. I know of at least two cases where a pilot was held responsible for a violation because he offered input on a flight on which he was otherwise just a passenger. In one, the guy was the owner of the 135 operation and from the back seat he pointed out that his pilot was approaching to land with the gear up. He got tagged with a subsequent violation that occurred on the same flight. There was a fed on board (might have been a checkride.) and the rationale was that when he pointed out that his employee was about to land his plane gear up, he became a crewmember and not a passenger.
The other was an airline pilot who somehow wound up as a passenger in a light plane which wandered into places it wasn't supposed to. In this case he was judged to have become the PIC when he told the pilot to turn around and fly out of the airspace. Both violations were appealed to the NTSB and both were upheld.