Authorities → Compare In development
Who gets to log pilot-in-command?
Three incompatible answers. Under the FAA two pilots can log command on the same flight; under EASA only the designated commander can — and there is no honest way to convert one into the other after the fact.
Command time is the sharpest divergence in logbook rules, because it is not a threshold that differs — it is the philosophy. The FAA asks who was flying; the EASA family asks who was designated; Canada asks what seat-role you performed. A number produced under one model has no defined meaning under another.
| Model | Authorities |
|---|---|
| Sole manipulator — log command when sole manipulator of an aircraft you are rated for; two pilots can log command on one flight; no PICUS concept | FAA (14 CFR § 61.51(e)) Verified GACA Verifying · CAAC Verifying (both inferred from the FAR lineage, unconfirmed) |
| Designated command + PICUS — command belongs to the designated commander only; command under supervision is a separate, countersigned entry credited toward command | EASA (AMC1 FCL.050) Verified · UK CAA Verified · GCAA (CAR-FCL) Verified · QCAA (PIL.14/19 — countersignature must carry the certifier’s licence number) Verified · CASA (dedicated ICUS column) Verified · CAAS (SASP-2) Verified · HKCAD (CAD 54 — columns are P1/P2/P2X) Verified |
| Position flown — log the crew position actually acted in; supervised command handled by specific rules rather than a general credit | TCCA (CARs § 401.11) Verified · NZCAA (CAR 61.29 — designated command, but PIC-US is a separate column, not credited to command) Verified · DGCA Verifying |
| Experience-based — the framework appears to prove experience rather than prescribe a logbook page | JCAB Verifying |
This is why a stored “PIC total” cannot travel between authorities. On export from an EASA-family record to an FAA-family template, PICUS time must be re-mapped — usually to co-pilot, or to command only where genuinely sole manipulator — never copied straight across. See the verification state of all fourteen →
Questions
Asked and answered
Can two pilots log PIC for the same flight?
Under the FAA, yes: the sole manipulator rated for the aircraft may log command, and so may the pilot acting as pilot-in-command (14 CFR § 61.51(e)). Under EASA and its derivatives, no: command belongs to the designated commander alone, and a pilot flying under supervision logs PICUS instead — countersigned, and credited toward command.
What is PICUS, and does the FAA recognise it?
PICUS is pilot-in-command under supervision: an EASA-family entry for a pilot performing command duties under the watch of the designated commander, countersigned and credited toward command experience. The FAA has no such concept — which is exactly why PICUS hours cannot be copied into an FAA PIC column.
How does Sojourn handle command time across authorities?
The record stores the crew role as flown — not a pre-categorised PIC number. Command, PICUS, co-pilot and dual are computed per authority at export, under that authority's own model, so the same flights file correctly with the FAA and with EASA.