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SERA.3220 Simulated instrument flights

ANNEX: Rules of the Air · Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 · EAR revision 26 Aug 2025

IRImplementing rule

SERA.3220Simulated instrument flights

An aircraft shall not be flown under simulated instrument flight conditions unless:

(a)fully functioning dual controls are installed in the aircraft; and

(b)an additional qualified pilot (in this rule called a safety pilot) occupies a control seat to act as safety pilot for the person who is flying under simulated instrument conditions. The safety pilot shall have adequate vision forward and to each side of the aircraft, or a competent observer in communication with the safety pilot shall occupy a position in the aircraft from which the observer’s field of vision adequately supplements that of the safety pilot.

IR · SERA.3220 — Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 · ​Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 · SERA Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 26 Aug 2025

GMGuidance material

GM1 SERA.3220(b)Simulated instrument flights

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SAFETY PILOT

(a)For the purposes of this rule a safety pilot is a pilot who holds a licence which entitles him/her to act as pilot-in-command of the aircraft and is able and prepared to take control of the aircraft at any time during the flight. The safety pilot will maintain lookout, or a competent observer in case the safety pilot does not have full vision of each side of the aircraft, and avoid collisions on behalf of the person flying under simulated instrument conditions.

(b)A control seat is a seat which affords the person sitting in it sufficient access to the flying controls so as to enable him/her to fly the aircraft unimpeded.

GM · GM1 SERA.3220(b) — Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 · ED Decision 2013/013/R · SERA Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 26 Aug 2025

All rules in SECTION 3 General rules and collision avoidance

Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 26 Aug 2025, extracted 17 Aug 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.

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