Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

6 Answers

Night Currency

Asked by: 15566 views , , ,
FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, General Aviation

Can a non-night current instructor fly with a non-current private pilot (or higher certificate) at night to get night currency (each one doing their 3 full stop landings)? My thinking is "no" because no one is legally able to act as PIC with a passenger (even if it is an instructor). Each would need to do their night currency alone or with a night current airworthy pilot. Is my thinking correct?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

6 Answers



  1. Matthew Waugh on Nov 29, 2012

    In fact the answer is yes.

    http://flighttraining.aopa.org/magazine/2008/April/200804_Departments_Legal_Briefing.html

    The trick is there is, according to the FAA, no passenger in that situation.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Kyler on Nov 30, 2012

    That article was eye opening. Is there anything official from the FAA on the matter? She did mention in parentheses half way through the article that the instructor must be current. So if the instructor is day current, student and instructor can go get night current together. What if the student is day current, and the flight instructor is not day current? Can they do a night flight together as long as the student is receiving instruction?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Wes Beard on Dec 01, 2012

    The currency for instructor that she listed is meant to imply a current flight review and medical notice it also says “except 61.57…” or night takeoff and landing currency. It does not imply the instructor needs to be day current.

    The Kortokrax interpretation is the official FAA answer on the subject and it makes clear that this interpretation applies only to flights that are for instruction only.

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2006/Kortokraxinterp.pdf

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Mark Kolber on Dec 13, 2012

    And the Chief Counsel went event further than the Kortokrax opinion, even applying the “CFI need not be passenger current on an instructional flight” rule to training of student pilots:

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2007/Olshock%20inter1.pdf

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  5. Mark Kolber on Dec 13, 2012

    The Chief Counsel went even further in the later Olshock opinion, holding that the “CFI need not be passenger current on an instructional flight” rule even applies in the case of student pilots:
    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2007/Olshock%20inter1.pdf

    But, to be clear, it should be re-emphasized that this only applies to =instructional= flights, not to two pilots just going up to share expenses, one of which just happens to be a CFI.

    The question posits a flight in which neither are current and the goal is for both to regain currency. So the question remains whether that can be considered an instructional flight. I think there are ways in which it can legitimately be done, but one needs to consider that in case of a mishap (which is how things like this tend to get checked into), the FAA will probably look closely to see whether this was really an flight for instructional purposes.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  6. Kyler on Feb 13, 2016

    Here are the updated legal interpretation links.

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2006/kortokrax%20-%20%282006%29%20legal%20interpretation.pdf

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2007/olshock-panam2%20-%20%282007%29%20legal%20interpretation.pdf

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.