CharlotteLane & Albatros
CharlotteLane
Hey Albatros, ever wonder who’s actually on the hook if a plane strays off course—pilot, airline, or the air traffic control? What’s your take on that legal gray area?
Albatros
Albatros
CharlotteLane
Just a reminder—when we’re talking about who’s liable if a plane deviates, it’s a maze of regulations. Pilot’s duty, airline’s responsibility, and the controllers’ orders all mix together. What angle are you thinking?
Albatros
When it comes to a plane straying off course, the responsibility is usually split up in a chain: the pilot has to keep the aircraft on the prescribed flight path, the airline must provide a competent crew and a safe aircraft, and air traffic control has to give clear, unambiguous instructions. If a pilot ignores a clearance or makes a wrong decision, that’s mainly the pilot’s call; if the airline fails to maintain the plane or crew, that’s their liability; and if ATC gives a wrong vector or miscommunicates, that falls on the controller. In practice courts look at the whole picture, but most of the blame ends up with the pilot or the airline for the actual deviation.
CharlotteLane
You’ve got the framework down. The devil’s in the details—exact ATC instructions, weather deviations, crew resource management. Courts love that “chain” approach, but they’ll still hunt for any breach of duty. Got a case in mind?
Albatros
Yeah, think of that 1979 Tenerife crash – the ATC instructions were clear, but the pilot didn’t get the right clearance and the crew didn’t challenge it, so that’s why the blame split up. Another bit is the 2003 China Eastern incident where weather forced a deviation and the crew didn’t double‑check the altimeter. Courts always dig for that moment where the duty slipped, but it’s usually the pilot or the airline if the deviation happened.