EASA night definition: civil twilight and logging night

How does EASA define night?

Part-FCL uses FCL.010: "'Night' means the period between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight or such other period between sunset and sunrise as may be prescribed by the appropriate authority." The Air Operations regulation uses the same words in Annex I, definition (79), adding "as defined by the Member State".

SERA, Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, gives the astronomy in Article 2(97): "'night' means the hours between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Civil twilight ends in the evening when the centre of the sun's disc is 6 degrees below the horizon and begins in the morning when the centre of the sun's disc is 6 degrees below the horizon". GM1 Article 2(97) adds that, to make the definition practical, "evening and morning civil twilight may be promulgated pertinent to the date and position."

Night is set by the sun's angle, so the gap between sunset and the end of civil twilight changes with latitude and season. Far enough north in summer the sun never sinks 6 degrees below the horizon, and those dates have no night under this definition.

Sunset or civil twilight: which do you log?

Civil twilight is the Part-FCL default. The clause "or such other period between sunset and sunrise as may be prescribed by the appropriate authority" lets a State set a different period, and any such period sits inside sunset to sunrise. If your authority publishes one, follow it; your national AIP and the authority's licensing pages are where to look.

Logging night from sunset overstates night time under the default definition, because the stretch between sunset and the end of evening civil twilight is day. A fixed offset from sunset is no better, because twilight length varies with latitude and date. Use published twilight times for the date and position, or a logbook that calculates them.

How to log night time and night landings

AMC1 FCL.050(a)(5) asks you to record the operational conditions, "if the operation takes place at night". In the model logbook, column 9 takes "flight time undertaken at night or under instrument flight rules if applicable", and column 8 takes "the number of landings as pilot flying by day or night". Landings flown as pilot monitoring do not go in column 8.

Part-FCL does not prescribe a method for splitting a flight into day and night. The definition turns on the sun's position, so on a long sector the night portion depends on where the aircraft is when twilight ends or begins, and a departure-airport twilight time can be wrong for the whole flight. A landing is a night landing when it happens inside the night period at the landing aerodrome.

Night landings also feed recency: FCL.060(b)(2) asks a PIC at night in commercial air transport or with passengers for 1 takeoff, approach and landing at night as pilot flying in the preceding 90 days, unless the pilot holds an IR.

The EASA night rating (FCL.810)

To use LAPL or PPL privileges in aeroplanes, TMGs or airships in VFR at night, FCL.810(a)(1) requires a course at a DTO or ATO, completed within 6 months, with theoretical knowledge instruction and "at least 5 hours of flight time in the appropriate aircraft category at night, including at least 3 hours of dual instruction, including at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation with at least one dual cross-country flight of at least 50 km (27 NM) and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings." LAPL holders first complete the basic instrument flight training required for the PPL. FCL.210.A(a) lets a PPL(A) applicant fly the night course inside the 45 hours, once basic instrument flight training is done.

Helicopter pilots need more under FCL.810(b): at least 100 hours as pilot in helicopters after licence issue, including 60 hours as PIC and 20 hours of cross-country, then a course of 5 hours theory, 10 hours of dual instrument instruction and 5 hours at night, including 3 hours dual with 1 hour of cross-country navigation and 5 solo night circuits. A pilot who holds or has held an aeroplane or TMG IR gets 5 hours credit toward the instrument instruction.

The rating alone does not permit VFR at night in every State. SERA.5005(c) permits VFR at night only "when so prescribed by the competent authority", with a ceiling of at least 1,500 ft and, in classes B to G at or below 3,000 ft AMSL or 1,000 ft above terrain, whichever is higher, continuous sight of the surface.

Night hours for the CPL and ATPL

Every aeroplane course in Appendix 3 to Part-FCL that leads to a CPL includes 5 hours of flight time at night, "comprising 3 hours of dual instruction, which shall include at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full stop landings". On the modular CPL(A), applicants without an aeroplane night rating receive that night instruction in addition to the course.

The ATPL(A) needs "100 hours of night flight as PIC or co-pilot" (FCL.510.A(b)(5)), and the ATPL(H) has the same 100 hours as PIC or co-pilot in FCL.510.H(c)(5).