Night Currency Lapse Before a Charter Flight
A commercial pilot holds a CPL with a valid Class 1 medical and a current Instrument Rating. Over the last 90 days he has flown 62 hours, but all of it was daytime VFR and simulator sessions; his last actual night landing was 118 days ago and his last night takeoff was 121 days ago. He is rostered as PIC on a single-pilot non-scheduled charter departing at 21:40 local, carrying six passengers, into an aerodrome with a published curfew and circling approach. His operator's OM Part D requires night recency per the licensing CARs and adds a company requirement of three night landings in the preceding 60 days. The dispatcher asks whether he can operate. He argues his total hours and sim sessions satisfy recency.
1. Can he legally act as PIC for this flight? Identify the governing recency requirement and apply it to the facts.
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No. Two independent bars apply.
Regulatory: The licensing CARs require, before carrying passengers at night, a pilot to have completed a specified number of takeoffs and landings at night within the preceding 90 days (typically three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop, with the landing recency tied to the type/class). His last night landing was 118 days ago and last night takeoff 121 days ago, both outside the 90-day window. Simulator sessions do not count toward night landing recency unless the CARs and the approved FSTD syllabus expressly credit them; generic sim time does not.
Company: Even if the regulatory minimum were met, OM Part D requires three night landings in 60 days. He has zero in that window.
Total hours and daytime VFR are irrelevant to night passenger-carrying recency. He cannot operate; the flight must be reassigned or the pilot must regain recency (e.g., dual/route checks as permitted) before passenger carriage.
2. Assuming the recency issue were cured, what additional considerations does the curfew aerodrome and circling approach raise for this specific flight?
Read the worked answer
Curing recency does not clear the flight. The crew must verify:
- Curfew: Whether the 21:40 departure and any anticipated return fall within the curfew window; a slot or dispensation may be needed, and diversion planning must assume the destination may close.
- Circling approach: Circling minima and procedures at night carry higher risk and may be restricted by the operator's OM or by the aerodrome's published procedures. The pilot must be current and competent for the specific circling procedure, and the weather must permit it.
- Single-pilot workload: No second pilot to monitor; the operator's risk assessment should address night, single-pilot, circling, passengers, and curfew diversion together.
- Fuel/alternate: A curfew destination effectively behaves like a weather-critical destination; carry fuel and a suitable alternate consistent with the closure risk.