I am a lawyer who has co-authored a book on personal injury law, though it's not my main area of interest.

There is no such legal concept as "taking over liability." And while there are areas of law where liability is "strict," those areas do not include taking over flying a model from someone having trouble. It's certainly true that you risk being sued if something goes awry. And that's no fun. even if you win in the end. But it is not the case that you will necessarily lose.

(On another matter, I have no idea what LCS's post means, so I won't respond to it. I think it's clear that all the rest of us are talking about civil law.)