When can you log SIC time? FAA 14 CFR 61.51(f) and 61.55

When SIC time is loggable: 61.51(f)

61.51(f) says "a person may log second-in-command time only for that flight time during which that person" meets one of four tests. Most pilots use two of them. Under (f)(1) you are "qualified in accordance with the second-in-command requirements of § 61.55, and occupies a crewmember station in an aircraft that requires more than one pilot by the aircraft's type certificate". Under (f)(2) you hold "the appropriate category, class, and instrument rating (if a class or instrument rating is required for the flight)" and "more than one pilot is required under the type certification of the aircraft or the regulations under which the flight is being conducted".

The other two are narrower. Paragraph (f)(3) covers a Part 135 SIC professional development program approved under 135.99(c), in aircraft that do not need a second pilot. Paragraph (f)(4), added in late 2024, covers a pilot designated as SIC by a government entity in a public aircraft operation; that time cannot be used for the private, commercial or instrument experience requirements.

The word that decides most questions is "required". In the June 2014 Cato interpretation a company flew a Citation certificated for one pilot and its policy required two. The FAA answered that the second pilot "is not a required flight crewmember, and cannot log the time as SIC". The same letter said that when the aircraft's certification calls for a second pilot, for example with an inoperative autopilot in that type, the second pilot becomes a required SIC and logs the flight.

The 61.55 SIC qualifications and the SIC type rating

To serve as SIC of an aircraft type certificated for more than one pilot, or in an operation that requires an SIC, 61.55(a) needs at least a private pilot certificate with the category and class rating, an instrument rating or privilege if the flight is IFR, and "at least a pilot type rating for the aircraft being flown unless the flight will be conducted as domestic flight operations within the United States airspace".

61.55(b) adds recent experience "within the previous 12 calendar months": familiarisation with the type's systems, performance, procedures, flight manual and placards, and "three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop as the sole manipulator of the flight controls", engine-out procedures and crew resource management, in the type or a simulator of it. Doing it in the month before or after the month it falls due counts as on time (61.55(c)). Pilots designated as PIC or SIC under Part 91 subpart K, 121, 125 or 135 in that type, and safety pilots under 91.109, are exempt from the training (61.55(f)).

The "SIC Privileges Only" type rating comes from 61.55(d) or (e). The trainer or a chief pilot, director of training or director of operations endorses your logbook that you have "demonstrated the skill and knowledge required for the safe operation of the [Type of Aircraft], relevant to the duties and responsibilities of a second in command", you file FAA Form 8710-1, and "there is no practical test". If your records are electronic, 61.55(d)(3) requires a paper copy carrying the trainer's signature.

Safety pilots and SIC time

91.109(c) makes a safety pilot a required crewmember whenever someone flies in simulated instrument conditions, so the safety pilot meets 61.51(f)(2) for that part of the flight. In the July 2012 Trussell interpretation, when the pilot under the hood acts as PIC and flies, the safety pilot "may log that time as SIC time because Pilot B holds the appropriate category and class ratings for the aircraft being flown and more than one pilot is required under the regulations under which the flight is being conducted". The 2014 Cato letter repeats it for a two-pilot crew in a single-pilot jet.

Trussell also covers the other arrangement. If the safety pilot agrees to act as PIC for the simulated instrument portion, the safety pilot logs that time as PIC under 61.51(e)(1)(iii), and the pilot under the hood logs it as PIC under (e)(1)(i) as sole manipulator. Either way the safety pilot is a required crewmember only while the hood is on, so outside that portion they log neither PIC nor SIC unless they are the sole manipulator. The instrument logging guide covers the safety pilot's qualifications.

SIC time for the ATP, Part 121 and Part 135

All SIC time counts toward the 1,500 hours of total time in 61.159(a). The 250 hours in 61.159(a)(5) must be "as a pilot in command, or as second in command performing the duties of pilot in command while under the supervision of a pilot in command", so plain SIC time does not fill it. SIC time from a 135.99(c) program counts toward the total under 61.159(c) but "may not be used to meet the aeronautical experience requirements in paragraph (a)(5)", and crediting it brings the ICAO limitation of 61.159(e) unless you show you meet the ICAO requirements.

To fly as SIC under Part 121 you need an ATP certificate and an appropriate type rating, and 121.436(b) states that "a second-in-command type rating obtained under § 61.55 does not satisfy the requirements of this section". Under Part 135, 135.245(a) needs at least a commercial certificate with category, class and an instrument rating. Operators set their own hiring minimums and decide what logged time they credit; the regulation and the operator's procedures take precedence over any summary.