Three Friends, an Expired Medical and a Landing Count That Does Not Add Up
You hold a UAE PPL(A), issued 18 months ago, and want to take three friends on a local flight in a PA-28-181 from a non-towered aerodrome on Friday afternoon. Your Class 2 medical certificate was issued 25 months ago and carries no waiver or limitation. You have flown four times in the last 90 days: two landings in the PA-28 96 days ago, one flight of three landings in a touring motor glider 40 days ago, and one local PA-28 flight with one landing 12 days ago. The aircraft is serviceable, insured and within weight and balance. Your friend, who holds a current UAE PPL(A) and Class 2 medical, offers to sit in the right seat and act as PIC so that you can 'keep your hand in' and log the flight as PIC because you are both aboard. The weather is CAVOK, wind 310/08, temperature 38°C.
1. May you act as PIC and carry the three friends on Friday? Give the specific reasons.
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No. There are two independent legal barriers:
- Medical: the Class 2 was issued 25 months ago. Even the longest normal Class 2 validity is 24 months (for pilots under 40); there is no waiver or limitation, so it has lapsed. You cannot act as a pilot or crew member, let alone PIC.
- Passenger recency: to carry passengers you need three take-offs and three landings in the previous 90 days in the same class/type. In the PA-28 you have only one landing within 90 days (12 days ago). The 96-day landing is outside the window, and the three TMG landings are in a different class.
Aircraft serviceability and weight and balance do not cure either problem.
2. Your friend offers to act as PIC while you handle the controls. Is that legal, and what can you log?
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He may be PIC only if he holds a valid PPL(A), a valid Class 2 medical and three PA-28 take-offs and landings in the last 90 days. If he meets those, the flight is legal with him as PIC.
You may not handle the controls. With an invalid medical you cannot act as a pilot or crew member, so you are a passenger. You cannot log PIC. Logging PIC requires you to be the PIC, or in limited cases the sole manipulator with valid privileges; you have neither. A logbook entry showing you as a passenger is the honest record.
3. What must you do before you can lawfully carry the three friends?
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Renew the Class 2 medical first. Then complete three PA-28 take-offs and landings within 90 days-solo or with another qualified pilot, but not carrying passengers. Only after those landings may you carry the three friends.
Before the flight, also check the aircraft documents, weight and balance, fuel and hot-day performance. At 38°C the density altitude reduces climb performance, so calculate the take-off and landing distances rather than assuming the cool-weather figures.