Is a digital pilot logbook valid under EASA FCL.050?

Short answer: yes, EASA rules allow an electronic pilot logbook. The regulation tells you what to record, and the acceptable means of compliance explicitly allow the record to be kept in electronic format. What your own authority expects when you hand it in — a printout, a signed PDF, a specific layout — is the part to check.

This guide explains the rules in plain language. It is not legal advice: requirements for a licence application can differ between competent authorities, so always confirm with yours.

What FCL.050 says

FCL.050 Recording of flight time (Part-FCL, Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011) asks every pilot to keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown, in a form and manner established by the competent authority.

Nothing in that sentence says “paper”. The requirement is that the record is reliable and complete.

What AMC1 FCL.050 adds

The acceptable means of compliance, AMC1 FCL.050, fills in the detail:

• What to record for each flight: date, places and times of departure and arrival, aircraft type and registration, single-pilot (SE/ME) or multi-pilot time, total flight time, name of the PIC, take-offs and landings, operational condition time (night, IFR), pilot function time (PIC, co-pilot, dual, instructor), FSTD sessions and remarks.
• A model logbook layout — the one most paper logbooks, including the classic Jeppesen professional logbook, follow.
• The format: for aeroplanes, helicopters and powered-lift, the logbook format may be kept in electronic format. For commercial air transport, details of the flights may also be recorded in an electronic format maintained by the operator.

So an electronic logbook is a normal, recognised way of complying — as long as it records the same information.

What authorities usually expect

The rules allow electronic records; national authorities decide the practicalities. Common patterns:

• A printed or PDF extract in the AMC1 FCL.050 layout when you apply for a licence, rating or revalidation. Switzerland’s FOCA, for example, asks for a PDF extract compliant with AMC1 FCL.050, signed by hand page by page by the applicant.
• Your signature on each page, certifying that the entries are true — exactly as on paper.
• Totals that match the previous logbook when you switched from paper.
• Endorsements and countersignatures (instructor, examiner, PICUS) visible next to the flights concerned.

If you are licensed in Spain, check the requirements of AESA; in France, the DGAC; in Italy, ENAC; in Germany, the LBA; in Ireland, the IAA (which publishes guidance on acceptable formats); in the UK, the CAA (UK Part-FCL follows the same structure). When in doubt, ask the licensing department before you submit an application.

How to keep a digital logbook that is accepted

1. Use the EASA layout. Columns in the AMC1 FCL.050 order mean an examiner or licensing officer reads your pages without effort.
2. Record everything FCL.050 lists — including landings by day and night and FSTD sessions, which pilots sometimes skip.
3. Sign each page once it is complete, and make sure a signed page cannot be quietly edited afterwards.
4. Keep corrections traceable. A correction should show what changed and why, just as a neat strike-through does on paper.
5. Carry your paper totals forward on the first digital page and keep the paper logbooks: they remain the original record of those flights.
6. Export regularly to PDF (and CSV/JSON) and keep a copy outside the app.

How The Pilot Log helps you comply

• Pages in the EASA / Jeppesen-style layout, with the three total lines at the bottom of each page.
• Every page signed with your finger and sealed with a SHA-256 fingerprint; corrections need a reason and keep the earlier signature on record.
• Instructor and examiner signatures on individual lines, with name and licence number.
• Pages stamped by an airline, an authority, a training department or a flight school, verifiable by anyone with the code printed on your PDF.
• A print-ready PDF of the whole logbook with cover page and signatures — the format authorities are used to.

Related: how to fill in an EASA pilot logbook, column by column and paper vs digital pilot logbook: which is better for you?.