Originally Posted by
EXDAC
It maybe well known to those who have followed that Cardiff player accident thread but I disagree that it is well known. I have held FAA CPL and CFI ratings for nearly 40 years and had never heard of "common purpose" test for cost sharing before reading about it in that accident thread. I have asked other experienced pilots and they had never heard of it either.
Opinions should have no place in defining the rules pilots are expected to know and comply with. If it is a requirement it should be in the regulations.
I think that part of the problem with what you are saying EXDAC is that like the UK, the US legal system is based on common law. This means that the regulations, on which you base your point, are themselves based on a number of common law definitions. For example, you will not find in the FARs a definition of Common and Private Carriage. These are terms that are fundamental to the privileges of US pilot licences, but they are common law terms that are simply inherited in regulation rather than being re-defined. The FAA was forced to publish FAA Advisory Circular 120–12A in 1986 because so many people were confused about the terms.
The Common Purpose Test, as it is known is also derived from common law - which is why you don't find it in the regulations. The fact it is not explicitly in the regulations, does not make it any less part of the law. This point is made well in the ruling FLYTENOW vs FAA should you be interested (available online in a variety of places).