CASA pilot logbook requirements: CASR 61.345 to 61.365
Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written
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Under CASR 61.345 every Australian pilot licence holder keeps a personal logbook with their full name and date of birth, and records each flight as soon as practicable: date, aircraft type, single or multi-engine, registration, take-off and landing points, time as PIC, co-pilot, ICUS or dual, instructor or examiner time, day or night, instrument time and approach types. You keep it 7 years after the last entry (61.355). CASA can call for it within 7 days; an app logbook goes in as a printed copy with every page certified (61.365).
- Keep a personal logbook
- Your full name and date of birth, then an entry for every flight
- While you hold a pilot licence or certificate of validation
- 61.345(1), (2)
- Record each flight
- Date, type, single or multi-engine, registration, take-off and landing points, time by capacity, day or night, instrument time, approach type
- As soon as practicable after the flight
- 61.345(3)
- Record each simulator session
- Date, type represented, time by capacity, simulated day or night, a description of the activity
- As soon as practicable after the session
- 61.345(4)
- Retention
- Keep the logbook, with each entry retained unaltered
- 7 years after the day of the last entry
- 61.355
- False entries
- No entry false or misleading in a material particular; correct an entry when CASA directs
- 14 days to comply with a direction
- 61.360
- Producing it to CASA
- An up to date logbook; electronic logbooks as a printed copy, each page certified as a true copy
- Within 7 days of the direction
- 61.365
What CASR 61.345 makes you record
61.345(1) makes it an offence, with a penalty of 50 penalty units, for the holder of a pilot licence, or of a certificate of validation of an equivalent overseas licence, not to keep a personal logbook in accordance with the regulation. 61.345(2) requires your full name and date of birth in it. 61.345(3) then lists what you record "as soon as practicable after completing each flight".
The list: the date the flight began; the aircraft type; single-engine or multi-engine; the nationality and registration marks (VH-ABC, for example); "the take-off and landing points for the flight, and for each segment of the flight"; the flight time flown as pilot in command, co-pilot, pilot in command under supervision or pilot receiving flight training; any time exercising an instructor or examiner rating; "whether the flight was by day or night, or both"; any instrument flight time; and "whether the person conducted an instrument approach operation and, if so, the type of instrument approach procedure".
CASA's logbook page, last updated 20 October 2026, repeats that list and adds one item: whether the flight was a community service flight, with any relevant details. 61.345 does not ask a pilot to record the pilot in command's name. The flight engineer rule, 61.350(3)(d), does.
How CASA measures flight time and instrument time
Part 61 measures a flight by its duration. For an aeroplane or gyroplane, the 61.010 definition runs "from the moment the aircraft begins moving, whether or not under its own power, in preparation for flight until the moment it comes to rest at the end of the flight". For a helicopter or powered-lift aircraft it runs from the moment the rotor blades start turning until they stop after the aircraft comes to rest. CASA's logbook page says the same, so taxi time is in.
Instrument flight time has its own test in 61.105. If you hold an instrument rating, a private instrument rating, an ATPL (aeroplane or powered-lift) or an MPL (aeroplane), you log time "piloting an aircraft solely by reference to instruments and without external visual reference points in IMC or simulated IMC". If you hold none of those, only dual instrument flight time counts. CASA's page adds that time under a hood or foggles is loggable as simulated instrument time.
For a session in a flight simulation training device, 61.345(4) asks for the date, the aircraft type the device represents, the time in each capacity, any instructor time, whether the session ran in simulated day or night conditions, and "a description of the simulated flight activity". Registration and route are not on that list.
Paper or electronic: producing your logbook to CASA
Part 61 prescribes no format. CASA's page says a logbook "can be paper or electronic", and that you can buy a hard-copy logbook, create your own, or use an electronic program or app.
The format matters when CASA asks for it. Under 61.365, CASA may direct you to produce your logbook, and you commit an offence if you do not produce "an up to date version of the personal logbook within 7 days" of the direction. For an electronic logbook, 61.365(3) is met when you produce "a printed copy of the logbook" and "each page is certified by the holder as a true copy of the logbook records set out on the page". Print in a layout that leaves room to sign every page.
Keeping it for 7 years, and correcting mistakes
61.355(1) requires you to keep the logbook "for 7 years after the day the last entry is made in it". 61.355(2) requires each entry to be "retained unaltered" through that period. Both are strict liability offences (61.355(3)).
61.360 makes an entry that is false or misleading in a material particular an offence, and lets CASA direct you in writing to correct an entry; you have 14 days to comply. Read with 61.355(2), correct an entry in a way that leaves the original visible: a single line through a paper entry with the correction beside it, or an app that keeps the change history.
If you lose your logbook, CASA says you may be able to rebuild your history from other records, such as your flying school's or employer's, and that you will need a statutory declaration for those entries. CASA states it does not hold logbook information for individuals.
Mistakes pilots make
- Logging airborne time only. Part 61's duration of a flight starts when the aircraft first moves in preparation for flight and ends once the aircraft is at rest.
- Writing only the first departure and the final destination for a multi-sector day. 61.345(3)(e) asks for the take-off and landing points of each segment.
- Ticking approaches without the type. 61.345(3)(k) requires the type of instrument approach procedure, and the same entries carry your 61.870 IFR recency.
- Overwriting an old electronic entry to fix it. 61.355(2) requires each entry to be retained unaltered for 7 years, so correct it in a way that keeps the original.
- Printing an app logbook for CASA and signing only the last page. 61.365(3) needs every page certified as a true copy.
What Off Chocks tracks
- The flight form covers each 61.345(3) item: date, aircraft type and registration, single or multi-engine from the aircraft record, from and to airports, seat (Command, First Officer, Second Officer, PICUS or Dual Received), instructor and examiner time, day and night time from civil twilight, actual and simulated instrument time, and approaches by type.
- The CASA printed logbook follows the ASA two-page layout with page totals, totals forwarded and totals to date, and an Entries Verified, Signed and Date box on every page. Its title page reads Certified True Copy and shows your name and date of birth, with name, signature and date lines. The totals page at the end carries the line "I certify that this is a true copy of my personal flying logbook records (CASR 61.365(3))" with its own name, signature and date lines.
- Each saved flight keeps an edit history, and a deleted flight goes to Recently Deleted instead of being erased.
Common questions
- Can I keep my CASA logbook in an app?
- Yes. CASA says a logbook can be paper or electronic, including an electronic program or app. If CASA directs you to produce it, you hand over a printed copy with each page certified as a true copy, within 7 days (61.365).
- How long do I have to keep my pilot logbook in Australia?
- 7 years after the day of the last entry, with every entry retained unaltered through that period (61.355).
- Do I have to record night hours?
- 61.345(3)(i) asks whether the flight was by day or night, or both. The night VFR rating needs 10 hours at night (61.975) and the aeroplane ATPL needs 100 hours at night other than dual (61.705(1)(f)), so record the night time as well.
- Does a student pilot have to keep a logbook under 61.345?
- 61.345(1) applies to holders of a pilot licence or a certificate of validation, so its offence does not reach an unlicensed student. You still need a record of your aeronautical experience to show you meet the licence requirements, so start the logbook at your first lesson.
- What happens if I lose my logbook?
- CASA says you may be able to reconstruct it from other records, such as flying school or employer records, with a statutory declaration for those entries. CASA does not hold logbook records for individuals.
Sources
- Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, Compilation No. 103 (in force from 29 September 2026), Part 61 and Dictionary
- CASA: Flight crew logbooks (last updated 20 October 2026)
- CASA EX32/24, Flight Crew Licensing and Other Matters (Miscellaneous Exemptions) Instrument 2024, Compilation No. 6 (in force 6 August 2026)
This is a plain-words summary to help you keep your own records, not legal advice. The regulation and your operator's procedures always take precedence.