"Jose" wrote in message
.. .
I don't know. I was not standing up for the =use= of the careless or
reckless rule, rather explaining how (IMHO) it is intended to be used.

Well, my comments are only directed at how the rule IS used, not how some
theoretical rule-writer intends it to be used. I don't see what relevance
comments about the theoretical intent have to my own comments, at least not
with respect to refuting them.

[...] I don't like it in =this= case for a few reasons:

1: It imbues the student with a poor impression of aviation (the good
lessons the student may take away from this are a byproduct - it might not
have turned out this way). This increases the chance that the student
will learn to be careless and get away with it, at least for a while.

Hazard to life or property? No.

2: It makes it easier for the pilot to become a passenger on his own
flight, and thus effectively abdicate the C role of being PIC.

Hazard to life or property? No.

In other words, from a legal standpoint the mere fact that the FAA might
agree with you regarding whether they like the actions for the above reasons
is insufficient for the purpose of charging the pilot with a violation of
91.13

None of these things are illegal, and on a different flight these things
might not even be an issue. They shouldn't be prohibited per se. But on
this flight it might well be considered careless or reckless, and the FAA
may use the careless or reckless rule to cover those acts.

They have no legal basis for doing so.

An aside... "careless or reckless" sounds like "sort of bad, or very bad".
I don't know how one can be reckless but not careless. With the "or" as a
conjunction, "careless or reckless" can be reduced to "careless" and come
out the same. No?

I think from a strict dictionary point of view, no. I agree that we often
use the words as synonyms of different degree, but literally speaking
"careless" implies a certain lack of conscious consideration without
implying intentional disregard of safety, while "reckless" implies a certain
knowing disregard of safety without implying a lack of conscious
consideration. That is, reckless could describe a person who thought
through the consequences, and acted dangerously anyway while careless could
describe a person who failed to think through the consequences, and never
really intended to act dangerously (but did anyway). A person can be both
careless AND reckless, but they can also be just one or the other as well.

Pete