Free Flight Just Culture Charter
Version 1.0 — October 2025 - draft for comment
Endorsed by: [Pilots' Union / Organisers / CIVL / National Associations]
1. Purpose
The purpose of this Charter is to foster a culture of openness, learning, and fairness across free flight. We recognise that mistakes, misjudgements, and close calls are part of human performance. Our goal is to learn from these experiences — not to punish — while maintaining accountability where behaviour is reckless or knowingly dangerous.
2. Principles
a. Trust and Fairness We treat every pilot, organiser, and official with respect and assume good intent. Trust is earned through consistency, transparency, and fairness in how incidents are handled.
b. Learning over Blame We prioritise understanding why an event occurred rather than who to blame. Reports, reflections, and honest accounts are valued contributions to collective safety.
c. Proportional Accountability Responses are matched to behaviour:
d. Protection for Reporting Anyone who reports an event in good faith is protected from disciplinary action unless deliberate recklessness or sabotage is shown. Disclosure of information for safety purposes does not constitute an admission of liability.
e. Transparency and Privacy Outcomes of investigations and learning reviews will be shared in anonymised form whenever possible. Personal or commercially sensitive information will be protected.
f. Shared Responsibility Safety is a shared duty among pilots, meet directors, safety officers, and associations. Each is responsible for maintaining integrity and supporting just-culture processes.
3. Implementation Commitments
1
Safe Reporting Channels
Establish confidential or de-identified pathways (for example, through SkyMind or national databases).
2
Learning Reviews
Replace punitive investigations with structured learning reviews that explore systemic, human, and environmental factors.
3
Training and Awareness
Provide human-factors and just-culture education to safety committees and organisers.
4
Governance Alignment
Embed just-culture clauses in codes of conduct, event rules, and disciplinary frameworks.
5
Protection of Organisers
Include indemnity wording for good-faith decisions made under just-culture principles.
6
Communication
Publish periodic "Learning from Experience" summaries that reinforce trust and transparency.
4. Oversight and Review
The Charter will be reviewed annually by a joint council comprising representatives from:
  • Pilot unions
  • Competition organisers
  • CIVL Safety and Medical Committee
  • National federations
  • Human-factors advisors
Amendments require consensus to ensure balance between protection, accountability, and progress.
5. Statement of Commitment
By endorsing this Charter, we affirm our commitment to building a global free-flight community where honesty is met with fairness, learning is continuous, and safety is everyone's responsibility.
Signed by: [Name / Role / Organisation] [Date]
Next Steps
Implementation Guide
Practical steps for applying Charter principles in real situations
Conflict Resolution
Framework for handling pilot-organiser disputes using just culture
Training Materials
Educational resources for safety committees and event organisers