Being legally allowed to fly and being genuinely ready to fly are two different things, and the rules on recent experience only promise the first.
This is general educational information, not operational, legal, or regulatory advice. Rules differ by authority and change over time. Always verify against current official sources and follow your operator's approved procedures.
Currency is not proficiency
Two words get used loosely and mean different things. Currency is meeting the recent-experience requirement written in the regulation: so many take-offs and landings in so many days, an instrument check within a period, and the like. Proficiency is the real thing, being skilled, sharp, and safe. The gap between them is where trouble lives: a pilot can be perfectly current on paper and rusty in practice, or sharp but a few days past a deadline. Treat currency as a legal floor, never as proof that you are ready. The international framework for recent experience sits in ICAO Annex 1 (Personnel Licensing), and each authority then writes the detailed rule.
Carrying passengers: the 90-day rules
Both main systems gate carrying passengers behind recent take-offs and landings, but the detail differs, so keep them apart.
Under EASA and the UK CAA, Part-FCL, FCL.060 requires, to carry passengers, that in the preceding 90 days you have made at least 3 take-offs, 3 approaches and 3 landings in an aircraft of the same type or class, or in a suitable full flight simulator. Note that EASA counts approaches alongside the take-offs and landings.
Under the FAA, 14 CFR 61.57(a) requires, to carry passengers, 3 take-offs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days in an aircraft of the same category and class (and type, if a type rating is required). The FAA counts take-offs and landings only, with no approach element in this rule.
Take a worked contrast to see why this matters. A pilot has flown three take-offs and three landings in the last 90 days but has shot no instrument approaches in that time. Under the FAA, that satisfies the passenger-carrying requirement of 61.57(a), because it counts take-offs and landings only. Under EASA, the very same flying may fall short, because FCL.060 also requires three approaches in the period. The logbook entries are identical; the verdict on currency differs by authority, which is precisely why you cannot carry one system's rule across to a flight under the other.
Night and instrument recency
The recency picture extends to night and instrument flying, and again the figures are authority-specific.
For night under the FAA, 14 CFR 61.57(b) requires that, to carry passengers at night, those 3 take-offs and 3 landings be made to a full stop during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise. As our logbook guide notes, that night-recency window is not the same period as the civil-twilight definition the FAA uses for logging night time. Under EASA, FCL.060 requires, to act as pilot-in-command at night carrying passengers, at least one take-off, approach, and landing at night in the recent period, or the holding of a valid instrument rating.
For instrument flight under the FAA, 14 CFR 61.57(c) requires that, within the preceding 6 calendar months, you have performed and logged 6 instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses using navigation systems. Let that lapse beyond the grace period and you need an instrument proficiency check, under 61.57(d), before flying on instruments again.
The logbook records; it does not certify
This is the honest heart of the matter. Your logbook is the evidence of the experience you have flown, but the experience only makes you current when it actually satisfies the rule in force. The logbook does not certify your legal currency, and a neat row of entries does not change a deadline. You have to read your recent experience against the current regulation, decide whether you meet it, and judge separately whether you are genuinely proficient for the conditions you intend to fly in.
Common pitfalls
- Confusing current with proficient. Meeting the minimum is not the same as being ready, especially after a long layoff or in demanding conditions.
- Carrying a rule across authorities. The EASA and FAA numbers and elements differ, so do not apply one system's rule to a flight under the other.
- Forgetting the type and class limits. Recency is generally tied to the same category, class, or type, so currency in one aircraft may not extend to another.
- Letting instrument recency slip. Once it lapses beyond the allowance, regaining it needs a proficiency check, not just another flight.
In Pilot EFB
Pilot EFB keeps an electronic logbook, and completing a flight can generate entries for you to review and confirm, so the record of your take-offs, landings, and recent flying stays in one place. It is a working record and a study and planning aid, not a compliance system: it does not certify your legal currency, and it is not a certified Electronic Flight Bag. Check your recent experience against the current rule for your licence and operation, keep the logbook backed up, and reconcile it with whatever your operator or training organisation treats as the official record. Saved entries stay available offline; pulling fresh data needs a connection.