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What EASA actually requires of your logbook
FCL.050 and its AMC, explained in plain language by a working airline pilot: the columns, the times, PICUS, and the 2025 change that finally put electronic logbooks in writing.
The rule itself
FCL.050 is the EASA rule on record keeping: the pilot must keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown, in a form and manner the competent authority establishes. The detail lives in AMC1 FCL.050, which sets out the logbook format the authorities expect.
Two things follow from that wording. The record is your responsibility, not your airline's and not your app's. And your national authority has the final say on what it accepts, which is why the Irish and UK notes further down matter.
New: electronic logbooks are now in the rule text
For years, electronic logbooks lived in a grey area: the original 2011 AMC text spoke only of a "computerised format" and made no clear allowance for a personal electronic logbook. That changed with EASA's ED Decision 2025/002/R: the November 2025 revision of AMC1 FCL.050 states explicitly that the logbook may be kept in electronic format, with conditions on how electronic records are kept.
In other words, an electronic logbook is no longer a workaround, it is a recognised format. The same revision also added the cruise-relief co-pilot to the list of pilot functions. If you fly under the UK CAA rather than EASA, be aware the UK text has not mirrored these changes yet.
The columns AMC1 FCL.050 expects
Whatever it is written on, paper or screen, an EASA logbook records the same things for every flight:
| What | The detail |
|---|---|
| Date | Day, month, year of the flight |
| Departure | Place, and off-block time in UTC |
| Arrival | Place, and on-block time in UTC |
| Aircraft | Make, model and variant, plus registration |
| Pilot crew | Single-pilot (single or multi-engine) or multi-pilot |
| Total time | Block time of the flight |
| Name of PIC | Who was in command (yourself included) |
| Landings | Day and night, counted separately |
| Conditions | Night time and IFR time |
| Pilot function | Time as PIC, co-pilot, dual, or instructor |
| Simulator | FSTD sessions: date, device type and total time |
| Remarks | Endorsements, PICUS certification, anything notable |
Times are UTC, and each page of a paper logbook carries its totals forward. An electronic logbook that prints to this shape, with carried-forward totals, is what an examiner or interviewer expects to see.
PICUS: the one everyone asks about
EASA lets a co-pilot log PIC under supervision when the conditions are met, and PICUS time counts toward PIC totals. The catch is in the paperwork: PICUS must be certified by the commander, and it should be visible in your logbook as PICUS rather than silently blended into PIC. An employer reading your logbook wants to see the split; an authority processing your licence application needs it.
This is also where EASA differs from the FAA. American logging is built around the sole manipulator of the controls; EASA logging is built around command. If your app was designed for the US market, check carefully what its PIC column actually means before you trust its totals.
Ireland: PLAM 024, and licence applications
The IAA's personal licensing advisory memorandum PLAM 024 addresses personal flight logbooks, including electronic ones. The short version: an electronic logbook is permitted as your record, but at licence application time the IAA wants certified records, with every flight signed for the way the rule requires, and a sloppy or uncertifiable logbook is how an application ends up in a denied administrative process. Read the current edition of PLAM 024 before an application rather than after.
The practical advice, especially in training where every hour must be countersigned: keep the paper logbook the course gave you, and run the electronic logbook alongside it as the working copy that does your sums, your currency and your interview prep. For line pilots past their training records, the electronic logbook plus a printable, certifiable export covers what most careers need.
United Kingdom
The UK CAA also accepts electronic logbook records printed for inspection: print your logbook, attach your personal details, and sign it. The UK's AMC text has not yet picked up EASA's November 2025 electronic-format wording, so if you hold a UK licence, the safe position is the same as Ireland's: an electronic working copy with a clean printable export, and check the CAA's current guidance before an application.
Choosing an app against this list
Whatever logbook app you pick, mine or anyone else's, hold it against the rule:
- Does it record every AMC1 FCL.050 field, including name of PIC, SP/MP, IFR, and day/night landings?
- Does it print a Part-FCL shaped logbook with carried-forward totals, in date order?
- Does it treat PICUS as PICUS: shown separately, counted toward PIC?
- Can you export everything, forever, even if you stop paying?
- Does night time come from somewhere honest, like the actual position of the sun?
Sector was built against exactly this list: it records every field AMC1 FCL.050 names, prints an EASA Part-FCL PDF with carried-forward totals (an FAA format too, if your career crosses the Atlantic), keeps PICUS visible and counted correctly, works out night from the sun along each route, and your logbook stays readable and exportable whether or not you ever pay for it.
Questions pilots ask
Can an EASA pilot logbook be electronic?
Yes. Since the November 2025 revision of AMC1 FCL.050 (ED Decision 2025/002/R), the rule text states the logbook may be kept in electronic format, with conditions on how the records are kept. Your national authority still decides what it accepts at licence application time, so keep a certifiable trail.
What columns must an EASA logbook have?
Date; place and time of departure and arrival (UTC); aircraft make, model, variant and registration; single-pilot or multi-pilot; total time; name of PIC; landings by day and night; night and IFR time; pilot function time (PIC, co-pilot, dual, instructor); FSTD sessions; and remarks including endorsements.
Does PICUS count toward PIC time?
Yes, when the conditions are met and the commander certifies it. It should stay visible as PICUS in the record rather than being silently merged, because authorities and employers want to see the split.
Do I still need my paper logbook?
In training, yes: keep the paper book your course requires, certified as you go, and treat the electronic logbook as your working copy. On the line, an electronic logbook with a clean printable export is the practical everyday record. No app, Sector included, is an official document by itself: the record and its accuracy remain the pilot's responsibility.
What is PLAM 024?
The Irish Aviation Authority's personal licensing advisory memorandum on pilot logbooks, which addresses electronic logbooks and what the IAA expects your records to look like when you apply for a licence. If you fly in Ireland, read the current edition before your next application.
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