Heads of Training as Examiners
It is not now permitted for an examiner to test a candidate if (s)he has done ANY training at all. Even if it was an Ex 3 Air Experience several years ago, the examiner may not test that candidate. Heads of Training who are /should be encouraged to fly with students a couple of times during their course to monitor instructor performance/standardisation are also precluded from examining. When monitoring a FI (restricted), a senior instructor has to authorise first solo and first solo x/c, that would usually involve flying with them. Again that person is precluded from examining even if they have only flown only one hour out of a course of 75 hours. On the one hand a duty of care requires an organisation to ensure that a student has been properly trained but on the other this ruling prevents school examiners from exercising their priviledges, which has significant commercial consequences.
This is a typical bureaucratic over reaction to an abuse by certain organisations where one or two examiners had examined candidates have conducted up to 50 % of a student's training, which is clearly a nonsense. T/L's or Check flights should be excluded and examiners should be only be precluded if they have flown more than say 5% of total
training.