Does a touch-and-go landing count toward the 90-day passenger currency requirement?

Yes, for most airplanes. A touch-and-go counts as both a takeoff and a landing for the basic passenger-carrying requirement. The exception is tailwheel airplanes, which require full-stop landings only.

Can I fly IFR while my instrument currency is lapsed if I have a safety pilot?

No. A safety pilot does not restore instrument currency or authorize you to act as PIC on an IFR flight plan. During the lapse period, you can practice approaches under the hood with a safety pilot, but you must complete an IPC before filing IFR on your own authority.

What's the difference between 90 days and three months for currency purposes?

They are not always the same. Ninety days is a fixed count of calendar days. Three months varies depending on the months involved. The regulation specifies 90 days, so counting actual days on a calendar is the only reliable method - rounding to "three months" can result in a one- or two-day error.

Does instrument currency logged in a foreign country count toward FAA instrument currency requirements?

Instrument flight experience logged outside the U.S. can count toward FAA currency requirements, but the approaches and procedures must be equivalent to those required under FAR 61.57. Log the experience clearly and consult the regulation or a CFII if there's any question about equivalency.

FAR Sixty-One Point Fifty-Seven, the Ninety-Day Passenger Rule, and the Currency Trap That Grounds Pilots Who Didn't Know They Were Grounded

Federal Aviation Regulation 61.57 sets the legal floor for carrying passengers and flying IFR. It covers three separate currency clocks - daytime passenger carrying, nighttime passenger carrying, and instrument flight - and they don’t reset together. You can be current in one and lapsed in another at the same time.

What Does FAR 61.57 Actually Require?

FAR 61.57 lives in Part 61 alongside the pilot certification rules. It establishes three distinct currency requirements, each with its own lookback period and qualifying criteria. Missing any one of them means you are not legal for that specific operation - regardless of how many total hours you have in your logbook or how confident you feel in the airplane.

How Does the 90-Day Passenger Carrying Rule Work?

To carry passengers, you need three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, in the same category, class, and type of aircraft.

The regulation says 90 days - not three months. Count the actual days on a calendar. A pilot who rounds “three months” and gets it wrong has no regulatory defense. If your last three landings were on a Tuesday in June and you want to fly passengers on a Saturday in September, you need to know whether that Tuesday was 90 days ago or 89 days ago.

What Category, Class, and Type Requirements Apply?

A landing in a Cessna 172 counts toward currency in a Piper Cherokee because both fall under category airplane, class single-engine land. That’s the same box. A landing in a glider does not make you current to carry passengers in a powered airplane - different categories entirely.

If the aircraft requires a type rating, you need those three landings in that specific type. Not just any aircraft in the same category.

How Does Night Currency Work - and Why Is It Separate?

To carry passengers at night, you need three takeoffs and three full-stop landings at night within the preceding 90 days, in the same category, class, and type.

The FAA defines night for currency purposes as the period from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. That is not the same as the window that triggers position lighting requirements, and it is not the same as the logbook definition of night flight. For currency under 61.57, the clock starts one hour after sunset.

Daytime and nighttime currency run as completely separate counters. Three day landings last week make you day-current. If your last three night landings were four months ago, you cannot legally carry a passenger after dark - even on a clear night, even on a short flight. You can fly solo at night. You cannot take a passenger.

There is no grace period. No one to call. You’re either current or you’re not.

What Are the Tailwheel-Specific Currency Requirements?

For tailwheel airplanes - Cubs, Citabrias, Decathlons, and similar classics - the regulation requires three full-stop landings to carry passengers. Touch-and-goes do not count.

The reasoning is direct: tailwheel accidents happen during rollout, during groundspeed management after touchdown. Touch-and-goes skip that phase entirely. Two full-stop landings and one touch-and-go does not satisfy the requirement. You need three full stops.

Tailwheel currency and general passenger currency are intertwined but not identical. Three full-stop landings in a Cub within 90 days satisfies both requirements for that airplane. But if your three landings this quarter were in a Cessna 172, you are current in the 172 and not current in the Cub - regardless of how many years you’ve flown tailwheel. Currency measures recent practice, not overall skill.

How Does Instrument Currency Work Under FAR 61.57?

Instrument currency runs on a six-month clock, not 90 days. Within the preceding six months, you must log at least:

Six instrument approaches
Holding procedures
Interception and tracking of courses using navigation systems

Qualifying approaches include actual IMC approaches, approaches flown under a view-limiting device with a safety pilot, and approaches logged in an FAA-approved Aviation Training Device. Flying a VFR approach in good weather without simulating instrument conditions does not count, regardless of how many you fly.

What Are the Safety Pilot Rules for Building Instrument Currency?

When you’re under the hood flying simulated IFR, your safety pilot is acting as a required crewmember. That means they must hold at least a private pilot certificate, be current to act as pilot in command in that aircraft, and be appropriately rated for it.

Whoever logs pilot in command time must do so correctly and intentionally. The safety pilot can log PIC time while acting in that role; the pilot under the hood logs the instrument approaches. The logbook entry needs to clearly reflect the date, aircraft, type of approaches, and whether conditions were actual or simulated. Instrument currency is only as good as the logbook entry that supports it.

What Happens When Instrument Currency Lapses?

Between six months and twelve months after your last qualifying instrument experience, you are not current. You cannot legally act as pilot in command on an IFR flight plan or fly in actual IMC. You can still fly VFR. You can practice approaches under the hood with a safety pilot to prepare.

Within that twelve-month window, an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) with a flight instructor who holds an instrument rating restores full currency. After twelve months without qualifying experience, an IPC is the only path back - no self-study option, no online course. A qualified instructor, in an aircraft or an approved simulator, and a formal check.

This catches instrument-rated pilots who fly mostly VFR and only pull out their instrument privileges a few times a year. The calendar moves quickly when you’re not watching it.

Can a Flight Simulator Count Toward Instrument Currency?

FAA-approved Aviation Training Devices can count toward instrument currency, depending on certification level. A basic-level training device can contribute up to two and a half hours per six-month period. Higher-level devices offer more credit.

The device must be specifically FAA-approved for this purpose - confirm that with the school before assuming. It’s a valuable option when weather or scheduling keeps you out of the airplane, even if it won’t satisfy the full currency requirement on its own.

Currency vs. Proficiency: Why the Distinction Matters

Currency requirements are not bureaucratic red tape. They’re a proxy for skill maintenance. A pilot who flew three landings last Tuesday has a fresh sight picture, a fresh feel for the flare, and a current sense of crosswind correction. A pilot who last flew three months ago might be perfectly fine - or might be surprised by how much their mental picture of the approach has shifted.

Meeting the currency requirement means you are legally allowed to fly. It does not mean you are optimally prepared.

If you’ve been current but inactive, a practice flight before loading up the family is the right call. If you haven’t flown in a couple of months, fly with a CFI first. Shoot approaches in a training device before filing IFR on a real weather day. Use currency requirements as a trigger for honest self-assessment - not just a box to check.

Key Takeaways

Three takeoffs and three landings in the preceding 90 days are required to carry passengers - count actual days, not calendar months
Night passenger currency requires three full-stop landings at night (one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise) within the preceding 90 days - tracked separately from daytime currency
Tailwheel currency requires three full-stop landings; touch-and-goes do not count
Instrument currency requires six approaches, holding, and course tracking within six months; lapses can be corrected by an IPC within twelve months
FAA-approved Aviation Training Devices can contribute to instrument currency, but must be specifically approved for that purpose
Currency is the legal minimum; proficiency is the standard that actually keeps passengers safe