How to log night time in an EASA pilot logbook

Night time is one of the columns pilots get wrong most often — especially on flights that start in daylight and end after dark. Here is how it works under EASA rules and how to fill in the column correctly.

What counts as "night" under EASA

EASA defines night as the period between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Civil twilight ends when the centre of the sun is 6° below the horizon. In practice, night starts roughly 30–40 minutes after sunset in mid latitudes — later in summer and further north.

That means "after sunset" is not the same as night. A flight that lands 15 minutes after sunset may contain no night time at all.

Flights that cross twilight

If part of your flight is in daylight and part at night, you only log the night portion in the night column. The total time of the flight stays the same.

Example: block off 18:10 UTC, block on 19:25 UTC (1:15 total). If evening civil twilight ends at 18:55 UTC along your route, you log 0:30 night.

Because twilight changes with your position, the exact figure depends on where the aircraft is at each moment — which is why doing it by hand is tedious on long flights.

Night take-offs and landings

Take-offs and landings have their own day and night columns. A take-off counts as night if it happens during night as defined above; the same for the landing. Night landings matter for recency: to carry passengers at night you need recent night take-offs and landings (check the exact requirement for your licence and aircraft category).

Common mistakes

• Logging the whole flight as night because you landed in the dark.
• Using local sunset instead of the end of civil twilight.
• Forgetting that times in the logbook are UTC.
• Counting a night landing for a touch-and-go done in twilight.

Let the logbook calculate it

The Pilot Log calculates night time automatically from your departure and arrival airfields, the date and your block times. It follows the sun along the great-circle route minute by minute, using the civil-twilight definition, and splits take-offs and landings into day and night for you. You can always overwrite the value by hand.

Try it free for 30 days — no card needed.

Always check your authority's guidance if a specific entry is used for a licence application.