Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Private
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General Maintenance Action; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft; Company Policy
On a planned IFR training flight during my preflight I noticed a crack including 2 ribs near the trim tab; causing it to move around I would expect it to cause flutter; possibly losing the horizontal. So I reported it to the flight school owner. His response was 'I know it's been like that' then told us we needed to jump start the aircraft. At this point we called the flight and he preceded to argue about the aircraft being airworthy ended up doing the training flight in another aircraft. I am concerned about the lack of safety culture teaching primary students it's okay to fly a broken airplane. That type of mentality I feel will cause serious problems in the future.
Pilot reported being pressured by a flight school owner to fly an unairworthy aircraft.