Originally Posted by
43Inches
Direct supervision of solo activities, that is student pilots operating solo flights is all about the pre-flight activities. The supervising person is responsible to ensure the weather is adequate, the aircraft is serviceable and fueled, and that the student is capable of the flight and competent and understands the limitations of the exercise (one circuit, several, what to practice etc). Once the instructor jumps out of the aircraft the student becomes "PIC" of the solo flight and then is responsible as such for the flight. There is not much at all the instructor can do, or is responsible for once the student embarks on the solo journey. Any questions from that point will be back to the initial responsibility of whether the student was capable and competent to conduct that flight as "PIC".
As far as monitoring of the in flight portion, you just have to be on hand. It's probably a good idea to monitor the student visually on first solo, but subsequent solos, area solos etc, what are you going to do? It would not be legal to use a hand held radio on tower frequency, and would just cause confusion. These days you could follow the aircraft on flight tracking programs, but that is not required. If an aircraft is overdue you would contact ATC and try to find if it's safe.
No such thing as 'child' pilots, aviation regards a child as not yet 13 years old. Duty of care in regard to solo flights is the same and does not change if the applicant is 16 or 65. The main difference is under 18 the persons guardian(s) may have to provide consent to the activity. Generally legal supervision of minors is required for those under 13 years old, however this does vary between states some allow lower ages. School children traveling together have different rules and so on. Above that and the minor can travel and move around without a legal guardian and no one else will be held responsible for their safety.
Also it is commonly allowed for a 15-18 year old to be legally responsible for a younger child that would normally be considered too young to travel.
I disagree with pretty much all of what you've written there. I'm not sure what the particular licensing was in this case; but generally if an instructor is sending an unlicensed pilot on a solo, they will bear the brunt of the responsibility for its outcome. More so if civil proceedings commence. An instructor can't just wipe their hands of responsibility when they exit the aircraft.
And there is a lot a supervising instructor can do, like I listed in previous post. There are ways to talk to a solo student in CTA: ask the tower to relay a msg, ask the twr if you can speak directly to the aircraft. If your the type worried about using a handheld radio, get yourself an AROC. But if your timely advice turns an accident into an incident, or incident into a non-event, nothing is going to happen. Now in a CTAF, where personalities try to dictate right of way, comms with your solo student can be essential.
And the biggest reason to be supervising a solo student: if something does happen, when the police come knocking, or the atsb, or the kids parents; you'll be able to give an account of what actually happened. As the authorising instructor, that'll be a lot better then saying "I was in the tea room when...". Same goes for your weird statement about minors. They are considered minors, and if you as an instructor arnt considering your elevated duty of care given your position of authority, you shouldn't be sending minors on a solo. Or instructing them at all. Be dammed if the regs don't say so specifically; they don't tell you not to call people of the internet idiots but I do that too.