Not necessarily, people take flying lessons all the time, and can fly their own planes. The pilot is the one, that should do the safety test.

OPINION: This should be the pilot although you should know maintenance schedules and make sure they are followed. The pilot (it's his life also) knows lots more about flying and airplane safety and he is responsible for finding problems and not flying if he finds them. It's your responsibility to pay to fix, however.

First of all, as a flight instructor and moreover an airline pilot, I confidently say that many private plane crashes are due to pilot error. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion pilot error is not just an untrained private pilot overshooting the runway and bursting into flames. Private pilot training encompasses the following: 1) how to steer the aircraft in all flight stages, 2) how to communicate, 3) basic knowledge of weight and balance and necessary "ground" stuff. A lot of pilots are weak when it comes to emergency reaction. Meaning, how to combat engine failure, flight control failure, and other emergencies that send pilots into frenzy. Contrary to belief, all of the above are surviveable. So while lack of maintenance may be the reason for the problem, the pilot may be the reason no one survived. I know this sounds kind of cold in light of such a tragedy. Now, regarding maintenance on private planes, there are three possibilities of who is responsible. All three overlap in one way or another. 1) If the plane is owned by the airport's facilities and available for rent, it is the owner's responsibility. They are required to maintain its airworthiness. 2) When the plane is owned by a private citizen, it is solely there responsibility to maintain it. This includes hiring technicians to perform inspections and repair any problems. The owner could be just the owner or also the pilot. Sometimes rich folks enjoy owning their own plane and flying it. Others like to be flown around in luxury in their own plane. 3) The pilot is not off the hook either, he has to inspect the plane before departure. A pilot's walk around check of the plane is only a back-up formality to thorough maintenance. Next time you're boarding a commercial airliner, watch outside and you'll see one of the pilots performing a walk-around check. Private pilots must do the same check. More thorough checklists and tests take place in the cockpit. Airline pilots spend a good portion of the fifteen minutes running checklists while at the gate or during taxi. Although not as long, private pilots do the same. These are meant to back up a good maintenance schedule, not substitute for it. I don't know the details of this incident, but it sounds like it happened on takeoff or landing. This is when problems usually take place. With only a second to react, this can stun an amateur pilot. A few years ago, a dear friend of mine, who actually owned a salon where I get my hair cut, crashed his private plane. He was an experienced pilot of 12 years with his own plane and an instrument rating. He crashed short of the runway on ILS approach, killing him and his wife instantly. It happens and it's very sad. My hearts go to the families of the five folks onboard this plane.