Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
And don’t forget: The failure to conduct a check to confirm these covers have been removed is a strict liability offence on the part of the PIC and the aircraft operator (at least in the case of Australian aircraft). For those who think that checking that some clearing endorsement on a piece of paper provides a defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact, remember: If you have to raise a defence you are, by definition, being prosecuted.
Which just goes to show the stupidity of a 'safety' system that makes the PIC strictly liable for any number of 'offences' they might commit. In the real world, an airline captain cannot physically check every single thing for which they might be held liable if not done properly. Airline captains
must rely on others to do their jobs in accordance with the regulations.