Carrying passengers: 3 landings in 90 days

A valid licence and a valid rating do not automatically let you carry passengers. For that, Part-FCL also requires recent flying experience from the last 90 days (FCL.060, “Recent experience”). Part-FCL sets out how pilot licences are issued and under which conditions they are valid and used.

The rule in brief

A pilot may not operate an aircraft in commercial air transport or for carrying passengers without the following experience.

Situation	What you need in the 90 days before the flight
Carrying passengers as PIC or co-pilot	At least 3 take-offs, approaches and landings as pilot flying, in an aircraft of the same type or class, or in a full flight simulator (FFS) representing that type or class
Carrying passengers as PIC at night	In addition at least 1 take-off, approach and landing at night, also as pilot flying, or an instrument rating (IR)

The terms

PIC and co-pilot

PIC stands for pilot-in-command: the pilot designated as being in command and charged with the safe conduct of the flight. A co-pilot is a pilot who is not flying as PIC, on an aircraft for which more than one pilot is required.

Pilot flying

Only landings that you flew yourself as pilot flying count, that is, as the pilot who is flying the aircraft. The EASA model logbook has an entry for this: the number of landings as pilot flying, split into day and night.

Type and class

The three landings must be made in the same type or the same class. Under the regulation, an SEP aeroplane is a single-engine, single-pilot aeroplane for which no type rating is required. A TMG (touring motor glider) is a specific class of powered sailplanes. Part-FCL treats SEP (land) and TMG as two separate class ratings. Landings in a different class therefore do not meet the condition.

If you hold privileges for several types of aeroplane with similar handling and operation characteristics, the three landings may be divided as set out in the operational suitability data (OSD).

Full flight simulator

Under Part-FCL, an FFS is a full-size replica of the flight deck of a specific aircraft type, with a visual system and a motion system. The rule names it explicitly alongside the aircraft.

The 90 days

What counts is the 90 days before the flight on which you want to carry passengers. Older landings no longer count.

Night

Under Part-FCL, night is the period between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, or another period between sunset and sunrise that the appropriate authority prescribes. SERA explains civil twilight: it ends in the evening when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon, and begins in the morning when it is 6 degrees below the horizon again.

What the rule does not replace