EASA pilot logbook requirements: what FCL.050 asks for

What does FCL.050 require you to record?

The rule itself is short: "The pilot shall keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown in a form and manner established by the competent authority." The detail sits in AMC1 FCL.050 (ED Decision 2025/002/R), the acceptable means of compliance. Your competent authority sets the form and manner, so read its logbook guidance alongside the AMC.

For each flight the AMC lists the minimum: the name of the PIC, the date, the place and time of departure and arrival, the aircraft type "including make, model and variant" and its registration, whether it is SE or ME where that applies, the total time of the flight and the accumulated total. The record also opens with your personal details, "name(s) and address of the pilot".

Two more items go on every line. AMC1 FCL.050(a)(4) asks for your pilot function: "PIC, including solo, SPIC and PICUS time, co-pilot, cruise-relief co-pilot, dual, FI or FE". Point (a)(5) asks for the operational conditions, "if the operation takes place at night, or is conducted under instrument flight rules". Simulator sessions get their own record under (a)(3): device type and qualification number, the instruction, the date, the session time and the running total.

The EASA logbook format, column by column

The AMC prints a model logbook with 12 numbered columns. Columns 1 to 8 cover date (dd/mm/yy), departure place and time, arrival place and time, aircraft make, model, variant and registration, single-pilot time split SE and ME beside multi-pilot time, total time of flight, name(s) of PIC, and landings by day and night. Columns 9 to 12 cover night and IFR time, pilot function time (PIC, co-pilot, dual, instructor), the FSTD session, and remarks and endorsements.

The notes for use set the conventions. "All times should be in UTC." Places go in full or as the three- or four-letter designator. Total time may be written in hours and minutes or decimals. Column 7 takes the PIC's name or SELF. Column 8 counts landings "as pilot flying". In column 10 you enter PIC, SPIC and PICUS time as PIC, the PIC or instructor countersigns SPIC and PICUS entries in Remarks, and instructor time goes in its own column and is also entered as PIC.

Flight time follows the FCL.010 definition. For aeroplanes it is "the total time from the moment an aircraft first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight"; for helicopters it runs from rotor start to rest with the blades stopped. A series of flights on the same day that each return to the same place, with no more than 30 minutes between them, may go on one line (AMC1 FCL.050(b)(1)(vi)).

Can you keep an electronic logbook under EASA?

Yes. AMC1 FCL.050(c)(1) lets commercial air transport flights be recorded "in an electronic format maintained by the operator", and the operator should make your records available to you on request. For other flights in aeroplanes, helicopters and powered-lift aircraft, point (c)(2) asks for the model logbook format, "which may be kept in electronic format", with all the data in (a).

The instructions for use add the conditions. Make entries "as soon as practicable after any flight". Paper entries go in ink or indelible pencil. Electronic records "should be made and kept in a way to be readily available at the request of a competent authority, and contain all relevant items that are mentioned in (a), certified by the pilot, and in a format acceptable by the competent authority." The AMC does not say how you certify an electronic record, so ask your authority what it accepts before you retire a paper book.

If your operator's system is your only record, you depend on the operator to produce it. Under ORO.MLR.115(c) an operator keeps records of crew recent experience for 15 months and training, checking and qualification records for 3 years. Those are the operator's records and they do not cover flying outside that operator, so keep your own.

Totals and page certification

The model page ends with three totals rows, TOTAL THIS PAGE, TOTAL FROM PREVIOUS PAGES and TOTAL TIME, and the statement "I certify that the entries in this log are true." above the pilot's signature. Point (j) of the instructions says: "When each page is completed, accumulated flight time or hours should be entered in the appropriate columns and certified by the pilot in the 'remarks' column."

The AMC recommends that pilots who fly aeroplanes and helicopters or other categories "maintain separate logbooks for each aircraft category". Licence and rating applications draw on these totals per category, and FCL.035(a)(1) credits flight time only in the category of aircraft for the licence or rating sought, unless Part-FCL says otherwise.

How long do you have to keep an EASA logbook?

Part-FCL does not give a number of years. FCL.050 covers "all flights flown", and the logbook instructions describe it as "a permanent record of the licence holders flying". FCL.045(c) requires a pilot or student pilot to present the flight time record "without undue delay" when an authorised representative of a competent authority asks.

In practice your logbook is the only evidence for every hour you claim toward a licence, rating or job application, and an operator's records expire on the timescales above. Keep it for your whole flying career, with a copy stored away from the original. Your national authority can set its own retention rule, so check its guidance.