Night Flying Question

Does a CFI have to be night current (3 T/O and Landing within preceeding 90 days) to train a student at night? The question centers around the requirement to be night current with passengers on board. Is the student a required crew member or are they a passenger?

faa-regulations night cfi

asked Apr 21 '10 at 21:08

wbeard52
2066●6●25●45

edited Apr 27 '10 at 14:49

One Answer:

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No. FAA, with legal interpretation of course, states that neither the instructor nor the student count as a passenger. Therefore neither have to be night current. It also clearly states that the CFI cannot log the students landings towards currency, and vice versa.

answered May 07 '10 at 15:38

Mike Pochettino
46●1

You are correct. The CFI does not have to be night current to fly with a student at night as there are no passengers on board. John Lynch, in the Part 61 FAQ stated this fact quite precisely. Even though the FAQ is not regulatory, he wrote most of the FARs that we have.

(May 07 '10 at 19:44) wbeard52

The definition of "student" here is one that does not have a private license yet correct? If I'm a private pilot and I do 3 full stop night landings then I can log it towards my currency (and my CFI cannot)

(May 10 '10 at 16:48) Patrick Pohler ♦♦

The definition of student in the way I am using it as anyone who is undergoing training. In a legal sense, the instructor is the "authorized instructor" for the flight. The flight could be to get a private pilot his night landings but wanted to go up with an instructor or an ATP pilot who is receiving a flight review and neither has recency of experience met either during the day or night.

The regulations (61.57(a)(1)(i) specify that the pilot is required to be the sole manipulator of the controls. So, the CFI cannot log the landings their student do for their recency of experience.

(May 20 '10 at 17:35) wbeard52

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Asked: Apr 21 '10 at 21:08

Seen: 665 times

Last updated: May 07 '10 at 15:38

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