Direct Answer: What §61.57 Requires
14 CFR §61.57 sets three separate recent-flight-experience requirements for acting as pilot in command, and a pilot can hold one without holding the others. Passenger currency (§61.57(a)): three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, as sole manipulator, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). Night currency (§61.57(b)): three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop within the preceding 90 days, flown during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise. Instrument currency (§61.57(c)): within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight, six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses through navigational electronic systems.
Let instrument currency lapse for more than six calendar months and §61.57(d) requires an instrument proficiency check to get it back. And every one of these clocks is proved the same way — by logbook entries under §61.51, with the location and type of each instrument approach recorded. This is the Part 61 pilot rule; Part 135 operators carry the separate §135.247 recent-experience obligation on top of it.
The trap: assuming “current” is one status
A pilot can be perfectly day-current and still be illegal to launch a night charter, or fully passenger-current and grounded for IFR because the sixth approach fell outside the 6-calendar-month window. Each clock runs independently, on a different unit of time — rolling 90 days for takeoffs and landings, calendar months for instrument tasks. Treating currency as a single green light is exactly how an otherwise-qualified PIC ends up flying outside the regulation without realizing it.
The Three (and a Half) Currency Clocks at a Glance
Before the detail, the map. Three currency windows under §61.57 plus the instrument proficiency check that revives the third one after a long lapse. Each is an independent requirement with its own timeframe, its own “what counts,” and its own logbook proof.
| Currency Type | Rule | Window | What Counts | How It's Proved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger-carrying (day) | 14 CFR §61.57(a) | Preceding 90 days | 3 takeoffs and 3 landings as sole manipulator, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required); tailwheel airplanes require full-stop landings | Logbook entries with §61.51(b) elements — date, aircraft type and ID, departure/arrival |
| Night (carrying persons) | 14 CFR §61.57(b) | Preceding 90 days | 3 takeoffs and 3 landings to a full stop, flown 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise, same category/class/type matching as day currency | Logbook entries marked night, with full-stop landings distinguishable from touch-and-goes |
| Instrument (IFR / below VFR mins) | 14 CFR §61.57(c) | Preceding 6 calendar months | Six instrument approaches; holding procedures and tasks; intercepting and tracking courses via navigational electronic systems — actual or simulated under a view-limiting device, or in an appropriate device | Logbook entries recording the location and type of each approach (§61.51(g)(3)) |
| Instrument proficiency check (after lapse) | 14 CFR §61.57(d) | Required once the (c) lapse exceeds 6 calendar months | An IPC covering the areas of operation in the applicable Airman Certification Standards, given by an examiner, authorized instructor, company check pilot (parts 121/125/135), authorized military person, or person approved by the Administrator | Instructor/examiner endorsement of the IPC in the pilot logbook |
Sourced from 14 CFR §61.57 and §61.51 as published on the Cornell Legal Information Institute (law.cornell.edu). Verify against the current CFR before relying on this table for any go/no-go or compliance determination, and consult a CFI or your DOM for certificate- and operation-specific interpretation.
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Run the Free CheckPassenger Currency: Three Takeoffs and Landings in 90 Days (§61.57(a))
Start with the most familiar clock. §61.57(a) provides that no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying persons — or of an aircraft certificated for more than one pilot flight crewmember — unless, within the preceding 90 days, that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings. Three conditions ride along with that number, and each one is a place pilots quietly fall out of currency:
Sole manipulator
The takeoffs and landings must have been made by that person as the sole manipulator of the flight controls. Riding along, or splitting a leg, does not build your own currency.
Same category, class, and type
They must be performed in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). Single-engine landplane currency does not carry over to a multiengine or to a type-rated jet.
Tailwheel = full stop
If the aircraft to be flown is an airplane with a tailwheel, the takeoffs and landings must have been made to a full stop in a tailwheel airplane. For other aircraft, day landings need not be full-stop.
The “90 days” is rolling, not a calendar quarter
“Within the preceding 90 days” means a sliding window measured backward from the moment you intend to carry passengers — not the last quarter, not the current month. Each day, the oldest qualifying landing may drop off the back of the window. A pilot who flew three landings on March 1 is no longer passenger-current on May 31 if no qualifying landings happened in between. This rolling character is precisely why currency is so easy to lose track of by memory and so well suited to a dated record with an alert.
There is also a carve-out worth knowing. §61.57(a)(2) allows a PIC who is not passenger-current to act as pilot in command under day VFR or day IFR, provided no persons or property are carried on board the aircraft other than those necessary for the conduct of the flight. In plain terms: you can fly yourself out to re-establish currency, but you cannot bring passengers along while doing it. And §61.57(a)(3) lets the required takeoffs and landings be accomplished in a full flight simulator or flight training device approved by the Administrator for landings, used in accordance with an approved course at a part 142 training center.
One framing point that trips up new commercial pilots: passenger currency is about carrying persons, and it is the pilot's personal Part 61 obligation. It is not the same thing as the operator's recent-experience duty under §135.247, and it is not the medical certificate that authorizes you to exercise PIC privileges in the first place. Three different gates, three different clocks.
Night Currency: To a Full Stop, in the Defined Window (§61.57(b))
Night currency is a separate, stricter clock — not a modifier of the day requirement. Under §61.57(b)(1), no person may act as PIC of an aircraft carrying persons during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise unless, within the preceding 90 days, that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop during that same period. The aircraft-matching rule is the same as day currency — same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required), as sole manipulator. Two differences make night currency the one pilots lose first.
Difference 1: landings must be to a full stop
Day passenger currency can be built with touch-and-goes (for non-tailwheel aircraft). Night currency cannot — §61.57(b)(1) requires the three landings to be to a full stop. A night currency session of three stop-and-goes or full-stop taxi-backs is the standard way pilots satisfy this, and it is a meaningfully different exercise from three quick patterns.
Difference 2: the window is regulatory night, not “dark”
The qualifying period is specifically 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. That is narrower than civil twilight and narrower than the lighting-based definition of night used for position-light rules. A landing flown 40 minutes after sunset does not count toward §61.57(b) currency even though your landing light is on — a subtlety that quietly invalidates loggings pilots assumed were good.
The simulator path and the turbine multi-crew alternative
Under §61.57(b)(2), night takeoffs and landings may be accomplished in a full flight simulator approved by the Administrator for takeoffs and landings, provided the visual system is adjusted to represent the night period described above. For crews flying larger equipment, §61.57(e)(4) provides an alternative night-currency pathway for a turbine-powered, multiengine airplane that requires more than one pilot — built around substantial total experience (in practice, at least 1,500 hours as a pilot and recent time in type), with night takeoffs and landings to a full stop in that category of airplane within a defined recent period, or completion of an approved part 142 program.
Because the §61.57(e)(4) thresholds and time windows are detailed and operation-specific, confirm the exact numbers against the current text of the rule and your training provider's approved course before relying on the alternative — this page describes its existence, not a substitute for reading paragraph (e)(4) itself.
For a Part 135 operator, night recency interacts with the company's own recent-experience rule. The night option in §135.247 lets night takeoffs and landings satisfy the operator's day requirement as well — but it does not relieve the individual pilot of the separate §61.57 obligations. The cleanest mental model: §61.57 is the floor every PIC stands on, and §135.247 is an additional gate the certificate holder must clear before assigning that PIC to a revenue flight.
Instrument Currency: Six Approaches in Six Calendar Months (§61.57(c))
The instrument clock runs on a different unit of time and a different set of tasks. Under §61.57(c), a person may act as pilot in command under IFR — or in weather conditions less than the minimums prescribed for VFR — only if, within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight, that person performed and logged the following tasks and iterations in the appropriate aircraft category, a full flight simulator, a flight training device, or an aviation training device, in actual weather conditions or under simulated conditions using a view-limiting device:
“6 calendar months,” not 180 days — and the month matters
The instrument window is measured in calendar months preceding the month of the flight, not a rolling count of days. Practically, that gives a small grace at the edges relative to a strict 180-day count, but it also means the relevant boundary is the first day of a month six months back. The widely used “6-6-HIT” mnemonic (six approaches, six months, holding, intercepting, tracking) captures the substance — but the legal language is “within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight,” and that is what an examiner reads.
Two recordkeeping details make instrument currency the most documentation-sensitive of the three clocks. First, §61.57(c)(2) permits the tasks to be flown in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device that represents the category of aircraft for the instrument rating privileges being maintained, with the tasks accomplished in simulated instrument conditions — so the where of each approach (aircraft vs. specific device) is part of the record. Second, and more pointedly, §61.51(g)(3) requires the location and type of each instrument approach to be recorded for currency purposes. An approach logged as a bare tally mark, without its location and type, is not a compliant currency record even if the approach was flown.
The safety-pilot link
Many instrument-currency approaches are flown under a view-limiting device with a safety pilot in the other seat. When a safety pilot is required by §91.109, §61.51(b) calls for the safety pilot's name to be part of the logged entry. That single field is often the difference between a currency log that survives scrutiny and one that an inspector or examiner can pick apart — the kind of detail that belongs in the pilot's own §61.51 logbook, not the operator's file.
The Instrument Proficiency Check: When the Lapse Exceeds Six Months (§61.57(d))
Letting instrument currency slide is recoverable — up to a point. While a pilot is within the 6-calendar-month window (or has only recently fallen out of it), instrument currency can generally be re-established by flying the §61.57(c) tasks under simulated conditions with a safety pilot or in an appropriate device. But the regulation draws a hard line. §61.57(d) provides that a person who has failed to meet the instrument experience requirements of paragraph (c) for more than six calendar months may reestablish instrument currency only by completing an instrument proficiency check.
What the IPC must cover
The instrument proficiency check must include the areas of operation contained in the applicable Airman Certification Standards (ACS). It is a check of competency, not merely a count of tasks — broader than the routine §61.57(c) iterations it replaces.
Who may give it
Under §61.57(d), an IPC may be conducted by an examiner; an authorized instructor; a company check pilot authorized under parts 121, 125, or 135 (when the pilot is employed by that certificate holder); an authorized person in the U.S. Armed Forces (if the applicant is also military); or another person approved by the Administrator to conduct instrument practical tests. It need not be an FAA inspector.
The “more than six months” cliff is a deadline, not a suggestion
The difference between regaining instrument currency with a few self-flown approaches and needing a full IPC turns on a single date: whether the lapse has exceeded six calendar months. A pilot who tracks the expiration and flies a few approaches in month five stays in self-service territory; a pilot who discovers the lapse in month seven owes an instrument proficiency check before the next IFR flight. For a working charter operation, that is the difference between a routine line check and a grounded crewmember scrambling for an examiner — a textbook case for a tracked deadline with advance warning.
The IPC also overlaps with checking infrastructure on the operator side. The same company check pilots who can administer an IPC under §61.57(d) are documented in the operator's check airman and flight instructor records, and the broader training cycle they sit within is governed by the operator's training program recordkeeping. Currency, checking, and training are distinct regulatory threads that converge in the same crewmember file.
§61.57 Is Not §135.247: Two Recency Rules, Two Owners
This is the single most important distinction on the page, because the two rules look almost identical and are routinely conflated. They share the “three takeoffs and three landings in 90 days” spine — but they are independent obligations sitting on different parties, and a Part 135 pilot in command must satisfy both.
| 14 CFR §61.57 | 14 CFR §135.247 | |
|---|---|---|
| Title / scope | Recent flight experience: Pilot in command — a Part 61 certificate rule | Pilot qualifications: Recent experience — a Part 135 operating rule |
| Who the duty sits on | The individual pilot | The certificate holder (“no certificate holder may use any person as a pilot in command”) |
| Applies to | Carrying persons, or aircraft certificated for more than one pilot; plus night and instrument privileges | Using a PIC to carry passengers in Part 135 operations |
| Core takeoff/landing test | 3 takeoffs & landings / 90 days, sole manipulator, same category-class-type | 3 takeoffs & landings / 90 days, sole manipulator, same category-class-type (day path) |
| Where it is proved | Pilot's §61.51 logbook | Operator's §135.63(a)(4) pilot record |
Comparison drawn from 14 CFR §61.57 and §135.247 as published on law.cornell.edu. The two rules overlap but are not interchangeable; verify both against the current CFR for any specific operation.
Why this matters for the file: because the duties sit on different parties, the proof lives in two different places. A pilot demonstrates §61.57 currency from their personal logbook; an operator demonstrates §135.247 compliance — and the flight-time detail behind it — from the company-owned record under §135.63(a)(4). An inspector can ask either party for either record, and “the other one has it” is never a complete answer. We unpack the full three-system map — logbook, operator file, and the FAA Pilot Records Database — in our companion guide on who owns which pilot records.
The Records That Prove Currency
Currency is a documentation problem as much as a flying problem. You can be perfectly current and still fail to demonstrate it if the logged entries are missing the elements the regulation requires. Three record points carry the weight.
The logbook is the primary currency record (§61.51)
Under §61.51(a), a pilot must document and record the aeronautical experience required for meeting the recent flight experience requirements of Part 61 — that is the statutory hook that makes the logbook the place currency is proved. Each qualifying entry needs the §61.51(b) elements: the date, total flight time, the departure and arrival locations (or the location of the device), the type and identification of the aircraft or training device, the type of experience (PIC, etc.), and the conditions of flight (day, night, actual or simulated instrument). For currency, the conditions field is not decorative — it is what distinguishes a night full-stop landing from a day touch-and-go.
Instrument approaches need location and type (§61.51(g)(3))
Instrument currency carries an extra recordkeeping burden the other clocks do not. §61.51(g)(3) requires the location and type of each instrument approach to be recorded — so “6 approaches” scribbled in a margin is not a compliant record. The defensible entry reads like “RNAV (GPS) RWY 16 at KXYZ, in actual,” approach by approach. When a safety pilot was required under §91.109, that name belongs in the entry too. Reconstructing these details months later, from memory, is exactly the scenario that turns a ramp check into a problem.
Operators keep a parallel flight-time record (§135.63(a)(4))
For Part 135, the certificate holder maintains its own individual pilot record under §135.63(a)(4) — including flight time in sufficient detail to determine compliance with the flight time limitations of Part 135, and the dates and results of competency and proficiency checks. That operator-owned record is not the pilot's personal currency logbook, and it is not where §61.57 currency is proved — but it is where an inspector confirms the company-side §135.247 recency and flight-time picture. Two ledgers, two owners, two jobs — covered in depth in our guide to Part 135 flight time, duty, and rest records.
The operator side of this is buildable in an afternoon. FileFlo classifies pilot documents into the right file and turns check and currency dates into tracked deadlines.
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Run the FAA Readiness Score — FreeHow FileFlo Helps — the Proof Layer for Currency Documentation
Let's be precise about where a document platform belongs. FileFlo is the compliance document and proof layer. It does not fly approaches, it is not the pilot's logbook, it does not make currency determinations, and it does not run your training program or operation. What it does is make the records behind currency — on the operator-owned side — classified, indexed, deadline-tracked, and provable, so “show me this crewmember's file” has a one-click answer.
Classifies currency and checking documents into the right crewmember file
Upload check forms, training-phase completions, IPC endorsements, medical documentation, and currency attestations — FileFlo classifies each into the correct pilot file and the correct requirement, so the source documents behind §135.63(a)(4) are organized rather than scattered across inboxes and folders.
Turns short-cycle windows into tracked deadlines with advance alerts
A 90-day takeoff/landing window, a 6-calendar-month instrument window, the more-than-six-months IPC cliff, and the 24-calendar-month §61.56 flight review are all dates. FileFlo tracks documented expirations as deadline events and warns before they pass — not after, when a crewmember is already grounded.
Shows the gaps before an inspector or a dispatcher does
Per-crewmember completeness is visible at a glance: which currency-relevant documents are current, which are approaching expiration, which files are missing the supporting record entirely. Gap visibility is the difference between a records program and a records pile.
Proof layer — not the logbook, not the CFI, not your DOM
FileFlo keeps the evidence that the operator-owned records existed, were current, and met their deadlines. The pilot still maintains their personal §61.51 logbook; your CFIs and check pilots still conduct training, checks, and IPCs; your DOM and counsel still make the currency and qualification judgment calls. FileFlo keeps the documentation defensible.
Aviation Compliance: Related Guides
Pilot Logbook vs. Operator Records vs. the PRD
Who Owns Which RecordWhat Pilot Records Does the FAA Require for Part 135?
The §135.63(a)(4) Deep DivePart 135 Flight Time, Duty & Rest Records
§135.247 & Flight-Time LimitsPart 135 Medical Certificate Requirements & Tracking
A Parallel Pilot ClockPart 135 Training Program Recordkeeping Requirements
Training RecordsPart 135 Check Airman & Flight Instructor Records
Who Gives the IPCPilot Records Database (PRD): What Part 111 Requires
Why Currency Is NOT in the PRDWhat Records Must a Part 135 Operator Keep?
Records OverviewHow to Prepare for a Part 135 FAA Surveillance Audit
Audit ReadinessAviation Records Retention: How Long to Keep What
Retention ScheduleFrequently Asked Questions
What does 14 CFR 61.57 actually require for passenger-carrying currency?
Under 14 CFR §61.57(a), no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying persons — or of an aircraft certificated for more than one pilot flight crewmember — unless that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, as the sole manipulator of the flight controls, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). If the aircraft is an airplane with a tailwheel, those takeoffs and landings must have been made to a full stop in a tailwheel airplane. This is the baseline day currency that lets you legally carry passengers.
How is night currency different from day currency under 61.57?
Night currency is a separate, stricter requirement in 14 CFR §61.57(b). To act as PIC of an aircraft carrying persons during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, the pilot must, within the preceding 90 days, have made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop during that same night period, as sole manipulator, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). The key differences from day currency: the landings must be to a full stop, and they must have been flown during the defined night window. Touch-and-goes do not count for night.
What is the 6-month instrument currency requirement?
Under 14 CFR §61.57(c), to act as PIC under IFR — or in weather below VFR minimums — a pilot must, within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight, have performed and logged: six instrument approaches; holding procedures and tasks; and intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems. These tasks must be accomplished in actual weather conditions or under simulated conditions using a view-limiting device, in the appropriate category of aircraft, a full flight simulator, a flight training device, or an aviation training device.
What happens if a pilot lets instrument currency lapse?
It depends how long. Under 14 CFR §61.57(c), a pilot who is not instrument current still has the rest of that 6-calendar-month window plus, in practice, additional time to regain currency by flying the required tasks under simulated conditions with a safety pilot or in an appropriate device. But under §61.57(d), a person who has failed to meet the instrument experience requirements of paragraph (c) for more than six calendar months may reestablish instrument currency only by completing an instrument proficiency check. The IPC must cover the areas of operation in the applicable Airman Certification Standards and be given by an examiner, an authorized instructor, a company check pilot under parts 121, 125, or 135, an authorized military person, or another person approved by the Administrator.
Is 61.57 the same as the Part 135 recent-experience rule (135.247)?
No, and conflating them is a common error. 14 CFR §61.57 is the pilot-certificate currency rule in Part 61 — it governs every pilot, including private pilots flying friends on a weekend. 14 CFR §135.247 is a separate recent-experience rule the certificate holder must satisfy before using a pilot in command carrying passengers in Part 135 operations. They overlap heavily (both turn on three takeoffs and three landings in the preceding 90 days), but they are independent obligations with different owners: §61.57 sits on the individual pilot, while §135.247 compliance is the operator's duty. A Part 135 PIC must satisfy both.
Can a simulator or training device be used to stay current?
Yes, within limits. Day takeoffs and landings under §61.57(a)(3) may be accomplished in a full flight simulator or flight training device approved by the Administrator for landings and used under an approved course at a part 142 training center. Night takeoffs and landings under §61.57(b)(2) may be done in a full flight simulator approved for takeoffs and landings, with the visual system adjusted to represent the defined night period. Instrument tasks under §61.57(c)(2) may be accomplished in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device that represents the category of aircraft, with the tasks flown in simulated instrument conditions.
Who keeps the records that prove a pilot is current?
The pilot does. Under 14 CFR §61.51(a), each person must document and record — in a manner acceptable to the Administrator — the aeronautical experience required for meeting the recent flight experience requirements of Part 61. For instrument currency specifically, §61.51(g)(3) requires the location and type of each instrument approach to be recorded. The currency record lives in the pilot's personal logbook, not in the FAA Pilot Records Database, which excludes recent-flight-experience documentation. For Part 135 operators, the company also keeps its own flight-time and checking records under §135.63(a)(4) — a separate, operator-owned system.
Does a flight review under 61.56 keep a pilot current under 61.57?
No — they are distinct requirements that pilots often confuse. The flight review under 14 CFR §61.56 is a recurrent competency check completed within the preceding 24 calendar months (at least 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training with an authorized instructor). The recent-flight-experience requirements of §61.57 are short-cycle currency windows (90 days for takeoffs and landings, 6 calendar months for instrument tasks). A current flight review does not make a pilot passenger- or instrument-current, and being current under §61.57 does not satisfy the flight review. Section 61.56(h) does allow the two to be accomplished in combination during the same flight.
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