FAA cross-country time: what counts under 14 CFR 61.1
Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written
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14 CFR 61.1 defines cross-country time seven ways. In general, any flight that lands somewhere other than where it departed and uses navigation counts. For private, commercial and instrument airplane experience, the flight must include a landing more than 50 nm in a straight line from the original point of departure. Rotorcraft ratings and sport pilots use 25 nm, powered parachutes 15 nm, and the ATP definition needs no landing: only a flight more than 50 nm from the departure point.
- General definition
- A landing at a point other than the departure point, using navigation
- Any flight by a certificated pilot
- 61.1 cross-country time (i)
- Private, commercial, instrument (not rotorcraft)
- A landing more than 50 nm straight-line from the original departure
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (ii)
- Sport pilot (not powered parachute)
- A landing more than 25 nm straight-line away
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (iii)
- Powered parachute
- A landing more than 15 nm straight-line away
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (iv)
- Rotorcraft and instrument-helicopter
- A landing more than 25 nm straight-line away
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (v)
- ATP (not rotorcraft)
- A flight more than 50 nm straight-line from the departure; no landing required
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (vi)
- Military pilot to commercial
- Same test as the ATP
- Per flight
- 61.1 cross-country time (vii), 61.73
The general definition
Paragraph (i) of the 61.1 definition is the default. Cross-country time is time acquired during flight "conducted by a person who holds a pilot certificate", in an aircraft, "that includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure", and that "involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point". A 20 nm hop to the next airport is cross-country time under this paragraph.
The general definition is the one that applies when the time is not being used for a certificate or rating. The FAA's December 2009 Glenn interpretation applied it to the cross-country hours in 135.243(b)(2), the Part 135 VFR pilot in command minimums (today 100 hours of cross-country within 500 hours as a pilot), "because that cross-country time is not being used to meet the aeronautical experience requirements for a certificate or rating".
The 50 nm rule for private, commercial and instrument ratings
For the private, commercial and instrument experience requirements (except rotorcraft and powered parachute), paragraph (ii) requires a flight "that includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure". It is measured in a straight line from where the flight started, not along the route and not leg by leg.
No single leg has to reach 50 nm. The FAA's December 2009 Van Zanen interpretation says the pilot "may choose what is considered a flight and what is merely a segment of a flight" and may string legs together, provided one landing point is more than 50 nm from the original departure. Fly A to B (20 nm), then B to C (60 nm from B) and back home, and you can log B-C-A as one cross-country flight.
The landing has to be more than 50 nm from the original departure, not from the previous stop. In the September 2009 Keller interpretation a pilot flew 40 nm north, then 80 nm south over the home airport, then 40 nm north back home. Total distance was 160 nm and one leg exceeded 50 nm, but the flight did not meet 61.109(a)(5)(ii) because "there was no landing at a point more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure".
Log the whole flight time. The June 2016 Grannis interpretation says that when logging cross-country time for certificates "'flight time' as defined in § 1.1 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) should be used", which runs from when the aircraft moves under its own power for flight until it comes to rest after landing.
What each certificate asks for
Private airplane single-engine (61.109(a)): 3 hours of cross-country flight training, a night cross-country "of over 100 nautical miles total distance", 5 hours of solo cross-country, and one solo flight "of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles". Helicopter and gyroplane use 3 hours of solo cross-country and a 100 nm solo trip with a segment over 25 nm.
Commercial airplane single-engine (61.129(a)): 100 hours of PIC including "50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must be in airplanes", a 2-hour day and a 2-hour night cross-country of "more than 100 nautical miles" straight-line, and one flight "of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles" (150 nm in Hawaii). Instrument airplane (61.65(d)) needs 50 hours of cross-country as PIC, 10 of them in airplanes, and an IFR cross-country of 250 nm with an approach at each airport and three different kinds of approach.
ATP airplane (61.159(a)) needs 500 hours of cross-country time, and its 250 hours of PIC must include 100 hours of cross-country. Paragraph (vi) asks only for a flight "that is at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure", and the Glenn interpretation confirms it "does not require a landing". A flight that goes out 60 nm and returns without landing counts toward the ATP but not toward the private, commercial or instrument rating.
Safety pilots, two-pilot crews and shared flying
The definition is not limited to the PIC. In the Glenn interpretation, both pilots of a Part 135 or 121 crew that requires two pilots "may log cross-country time for the entire flight", because each is a required crewmember from takeoff to landing.
A safety pilot may not. Glenn, citing the June 2009 Gebhart letter, says a safety pilot "may not log cross-country time because that person is not a required flight crewmember for the entire flight". Two pilots who swap the controls in a single-pilot airplane also lose it: "neither pilot may log cross-country time to meet the cross-country requirements" of 61.65(d), 61.109 or 61.129. The regulation and your operator's procedures take precedence over any summary, so check with your instructor or examiner before you rely on a borderline flight.
Mistakes pilots make
- Measuring the 50 nm from the previous stop or along the route. It is a straight line from the original point of departure, as the Keller interpretation shows.
- Thinking every leg must exceed 50 nm. One landing point more than 50 nm from the original departure is enough, and you decide what makes up one flight (Van Zanen).
- Logging cross-country as a safety pilot, or when you and another pilot took turns flying a single-pilot airplane. The FAA says neither pilot can use it for 61.65, 61.109 or 61.129.
- Applying the 50 nm airplane figure to a helicopter rating or a sport pilot certificate, where the definition is more than 25 nm.
- Assuming an ATP cross-country needs a landing. Paragraph (vi) needs only a flight more than 50 nm from the departure point.
What Off Chocks tracks
- The Cross-country row sits in the flight form's "Cross-country and flight type" fold. Left blank, it counts the entry as cross-country when its departure and arrival airports are more than 50 nm apart; a time you type wins, and a typed 0 means not cross-country.
- The automatic test looks at one entry's departure and arrival. It cannot see the original departure of a multi-leg trip, the 25 nm rotorcraft and sport figures, or the ATP's no-landing rule, so type the figure for those flights. It flags a leg within 0.3 nm of the 50 nm line.
- If an airport in the entry has no known position, Off Chocks tells you after saving that it could not work out cross-country, and points you to the Cross-country row.
Common questions
- Does a flight under 50 nm count as cross-country?
- Yes under the general definition, for your logbook and for rules such as the Part 135 pilot in command minimums. It does not count toward private, commercial or instrument airplane experience.
- Does every leg have to be more than 50 nm?
- No. One landing point must be more than 50 nm in a straight line from the original departure (Van Zanen and Glenn interpretations, December 2009).
- Do I need to land for ATP cross-country time?
- No. 61.1 paragraph (vi) needs a flight more than 50 nm straight-line from the departure point; the Glenn interpretation confirms no landing is required.
- Can a safety pilot log cross-country time?
- No. The FAA says a safety pilot is not a required crewmember for the entire flight.
- Is cross-country logged as block time or airborne time?
- Flight time as defined in 14 CFR 1.1, from moving under the aircraft's own power for flight to coming to rest after landing (Grannis, June 2016).
- What is the cross-country distance for a helicopter rating?
- More than 25 nm straight-line from the original point of departure, under 61.1 paragraph (v).
Sources
- 14 CFR 61.1 Applicability and definitions: cross-country time (eCFR, up to date as of 27 Oct 2026)
- 14 CFR 61.109 Aeronautical experience, private pilot (eCFR)
- 14 CFR 61.129 Aeronautical experience, commercial pilot (eCFR)
- FAA Chief Counsel, Legal Interpretation to Ted Louis Glenn (December 2009)
- FAA Chief Counsel, Legal Interpretation to Dwight B. Van Zanen (December 2009)
- FAA Chief Counsel, Legal Interpretation to Terrence K. Keller Jr. (8 September 2009)
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.