SAFA Skysailor Magazine

38 SKY SAILOR March-April-May | AUTUMN 2025 operating within the site rules, our insurer would be within their rights to refuse cover. What would this mean for you? In the event of a claim being made against you, the legal and financial liabilities would be for you to deal with! You could expect to have to defend against a civil litigation case without any assistance from SAFA’s insurer or their legal team, and in the case of flying without holding the proper authorisation, you could also face charges being pursued for operating an aircraft unlawfully. However, the situation may not conclude there. Many of our sites are managed by our clubs or Regional Associations under licence from the landowner, which can be the Crown, meaning a Commonwealth, State, or Local government, or their agen- cies. The terms of these licences typically stipulate that flight operations be conduct- ed by appropriately authorised financial SAFA members, usually also those who are members of the club or association managing the site (visiting or otherwise) and are properly authorised to conduct their flight operations. In the event of an accident where a member of the public was injured (or property damaged) by a pilot who was not covered by our insur- ance policies for any of the reasons out- lined above, the landowner (e.g., council or government body) issuing the licence would quite reasonably be asking serious questions of the site manager, which, if not answered to their satisfaction, could lead to loss of the site. Unauthorised Aviation Operations