May a Safety Pilot Log PIC Time?
It depends. If the safety pilot is also acting as PIC (in charge of the flight), then the safety pilot may log PIC time while the flying pilot is under the hood. If not, the safety pilot is permitted to log second-in-command time. To understand the answer, make sure that you first understand the “golden key” to logging mentioned in the general logging PIC FAQ – the FAA treats “acting as pilot in command” and “logging pilot in command time” under FAR 61.51 as completely different concepts. Unless 61.51 specifically directs you to it, answering a logging question by including the word “acting” or pointing to any other FAR is always a mistake. Logging PIC time as a safety pilot is one of those times that 61.51 tells you to look somewhere else. As usual, let’s start with 61.51. 61.51(e)(1)(iii) tells us that if you are a private or commercial pilot, you may log as PIC any time you are acting as PIC (in charge) of a flight on which more than one pilot is required by the regulations. More th
