Definition
The regulatory recency-of-experience requirement a pilot must meet to carry passengers at night. Under 14 CFR 61.57(b), within the preceding 90 days the pilot must have made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop, performed at night, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). Night for this purpose is the period beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise.
Plain English
A rule that says you can only take passengers up at night if you have done three full-stop takeoffs and landings at night within the last 90 days, in the same kind of aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of night operations, passenger-carrying rules, and risk factors for spatial disorientation.
Derivation
Currency comes from current, meaning present or up to date. In aviation, being current means your recent experience is still fresh enough to meet a rule or support safe performance.
Why Pilots Care
Failing to meet night-flight currency means you cannot legally carry passengers at night and increases the chance of disorientation-related incidents.
Intuition Check
Currency does not mean money here. It means your night-flying experience is up to date enough to meet the rule and support safe flying.
Example Sentence 1
Before the trip to the coast, she flew three laps in the pattern after sunset to restore her night-flight currency.
Example Sentence 2
Without three night landings in the last 90 days, the instructor could not act as pilot in command with passengers during night operations.