Lost Pilot Logbook in Australia: How to Reconstruct Hours

Executive Summary

An Australian pilot who loses a personal logbook has a regulator-stated route, but not a regulator-held backup. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says a pilot "may be able to reconstruct" their flying history in a new logbook using other records, which could include organisational or operational records from a flying school or employer (Source: www.casa.gov.au). CASA also says a statutory declaration is needed for any records entered in a new logbook, and that it does not hold logbook information for individuals (Source: www.casa.gov.au). The page was read on 8 November 2026; check its current version before relying on it. It does not set out declaration wording, witness rules or a submission procedure, and this report does not invent one.

The legal frame is Part 61 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR). Regulation 61.345 makes keeping a personal logbook an offence-backed duty, 61.355 requires retention for 7 years after the last entry, and 61.365 lets CASA direct production within 7 days (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). Regulation 61.360 makes a false or misleading entry an offence (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). A reconstruction therefore has to be traceable entry by entry, not merely plausible in total.

The method proposed here is an evidence register that separates recovered facts from unresolved recollections. In a synthetic illustration, a supported 600-hour earlier summary plus 45 hours of later records, less 5 hours that overlap the summary period, yields 640 supported hours. A recollected 12 further hours stays unresolved and is not silently added. The harder case is a surviving lifetime total with no role breakdown: CASA's rules make capacity a property of each flight (only one pilot can log pilot in command (PIC) time, and co-pilot time exists only where two pilots are required) (Source: www.casa.gov.au), so a total cannot be split into roles by arithmetic alone.

Source clocks matter. Australian air transport operators must keep flight crew training and checking records until 5 years after the member leaves (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), Fair Work employee records are kept for 7 years (Source: www.fairwork.gov.au), and public flight-tracker history runs from 7 days (anyone) to 3 years (Flightradar24 Business plan) ^[1]. Whether CASA, an examiner or an employer accepts a reconstructed record is their decision; this article makes no promise on that point. After reconstruction, exports, offline copies and a paper index protect the new record. Pilot Logbook, an invitation-only electronic logbook, supports full export and encrypted backups, but a backup cannot restore flights that were never entered.

Introduction and Background

Losing a logbook is a documentation problem before it is a licensing problem. The licence, ratings and endorsements remain visible to the holder in CASA's myCASA portal (Source: www.casa.gov.au), but the detailed evidence of aeronautical experience, the flight-by-flight record behind a total, sits only in the logbook. CASA describes the logbook as an official record of aeronautical experience. When that record is gone, the pilot cannot ask the regulator for a copy, because CASA does not hold logbook information for individuals.

This article addresses Australian professional pilots whose logbook is missing, destroyed or corrupted, and pilots who must present reconstructed experience for a licence or rating. It is deliberately narrow. It is not a guide to migrating an intact paper book into an app, and it is not an instruction on operational currency. It asks three questions: which historical facts can be supported, what remains uncertain, and what documentation should accompany a reconstructed record.

The existing answer set is largely foreign. A US-focused KármánLogs guide advises requesting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman file, noting that the FAA keeps every 8710 application a pilot has filed ^[2]. A Pilot EFB guide framed around the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) says there is no single regulation that prescribes how to rebuild a logbook and that the licensing authority decides what it will accept ^[3]. Neither establishes what an Australian recipient will accept. The distinct contribution here is CASA's own guidance read alongside CASR 61.345 to 61.365, plus a recoverable-fact ledger.

Two boundaries apply. First, CASA's aircraft logbook is a different record. CASA says the registration certificate holder must keep an aircraft logbook for airworthiness (Source: www.casa.gov.au), and for a lost aircraft logbook CASA makes a risk-based assessment of the aircraft's airworthiness (Source: www.casa.gov.au). That process does not apply to a pilot's personal flight-time record. Pilot EFB makes a related point about the notarised-statement shortcut, calling it an aircraft-records procedure rather than a pilot-logbook rule ^[3]. Second, this article is explanatory. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the decision of CASA, an examiner or an employer on a specific submission. Readers with a live application should confirm requirements with CASA before submitting anything.

Pilot Logbook (pilots.landing.aero) is made by the publisher of this article and is an electronic pilot logbook for professional pilots. It appears only where preservation after reconstruction is the topic, stated factually and with its limits.

What the Regulations and CASA Guidance Actually Say

The record obligations in CASR 61.345 to 61.365

The current compilation of the CASR consulted for this article is dated 29 September 2026. Under regulation 61.345, a pilot licence holder commits an offence if the person does not keep a personal logbook in accordance with the regulation (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). Entries must be made as soon as practicable after completing each flight (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and simulated flights in a flight simulation training device (FSTD) have a separate entry requirement. CASA's guidance lists what to record after each flight and includes the capacity flown: PIC, co-pilot, pilot in command under supervision (PICUS) or pilot receiving flight training (Source: www.casa.gov.au).

Regulation 61.355 sets the retention rules. The logbook must be retained for 7 years after the day the last entry is made (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and each entry must be retained unaltered throughout that period. CASA's guidance states the same 7-year period. This matters for a reconstruction in two ways: a recent last entry means the lost book was still inside its retention window, and the "unaltered" rule means a reconstructed record should be a new, clearly separate document rather than edits to surviving pages.

Regulation 61.360 makes a false or misleading entry an offence (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and CASA may direct a holder to correct an entry, and the holder commits an offence if they do not comply with the direction within 14 days of it being given (regulation 61.360(4); Part 61 text). Regulation 61.365 lets CASA direct a holder of a flight crew licence or certificate of validation to produce the logbook; failing to produce an up-to-date version within 7 days is an offence (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). For electronic logbooks, a printed copy with each page certified by the holder as a true copy satisfies the requirement (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and CASA's page says the same.

What CASA says about a lost logbook

CASA's "Lost logbooks" passage is short. It states that a pilot may be able to reconstruct flying history in a new logbook using other records, that such records could include organisational or operational records from a flying school or employer (Source: www.casa.gov.au), and that a statutory declaration is needed for any records entered in a new logbook (Source: www.casa.gov.au). It does not specify the declaration's form, who may witness it, how reconstructed hours are assessed, or how a submission is made. The regulations consulted do not fill that gap either. The responsible approach is to describe CASA's statement as guidance and to ask CASA about the specific submission.

Flight-time definitions that limit what can be reconstructed

CASA's guidance fixes what counts as flight time and in which capacity. Flight time runs from when the aircraft begins moving until it comes to rest at the end of the flight. PIC time is the duration of a flight for which the person is pilot in command (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and only one pilot can log PIC for any given flight. Co-pilot flight time is time flown in aircraft that must be operated by at least 2 pilots (Source: www.casa.gov.au), and a second pilot who is not PIC and is not receiving instruction cannot log flight time in a single-pilot certified aircraft. PICUS requires the pilot to perform all PIC duties (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). Overseas hours are recorded using the Australian capacity that matches the role performed (Source: www.casa.gov.au).

These definitions are the reason a reconstruction must record capacity evidence separately from time evidence. A document that proves an aircraft flew does not prove the pilot's loggable role.

How other jurisdictions frame the same duty

Rules differ by jurisdiction and should not be mixed. In the United States, 14 CFR 61.51 requires a pilot to document and record time "in a manner acceptable to the Administrator" and to present the logbook on reasonable request of listed officials ^[4]. In Canada, Canadian Aviation Regulations 401.08 requires holders to maintain a personal log ^[5]. For EASA, the Irish Aviation Authority's advisory memorandum reproduces FCL.050, under which the pilot shall keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown (Source: www.iaa.ie); the same memorandum states electronic logbooks are acceptable provided flights requiring endorsement have been signed (Source: www.iaa.ie). The United Kingdom's Air Navigation Order 2016 article 228 requires entries as soon as reasonably practicable after each flight ^[6]. None of these supplies an Australian reconstruction procedure, and they are cited only to show that the Australian position is its own.

Mapping Surviving Evidence to What It Proves

Principles for the register

A reconstruction is a set of claims, each tied to a source. The register treats every source as proof of something narrower than "the pilot's hours". An employer summary may prove a subtotal at a date. A roster may prove a scheduled pairing. A tracker log may prove an aircraft moved. Only the combination, and often not even that, establishes who sat where in what capacity.

The register below follows the recommended columns for a lost-logbook evidence pack. Each row is one document or record set, and the last column carries the question to put to the receiving body.

• Document ID, source and date obtained: a stable reference, the issuer and the receipt date.
• Covered period: the dates the document actually spans.
• Flight identifier, if known: date, registration, route or flight number.
• Supported time or subtotal: hours the document itself states, copied, not recalculated.
• Capacity evidence: anything showing the role flown, such as seat allocation or instructor sign-off.
• Original authentication: signature, stamp, system header or none.
• Conflicting source: another document that disagrees on time, date or role.
• Overlap risk: whether the period overlaps another summary or flight list.
• Unresolved information: what is missing or ambiguous.
• Receiving-purpose question: what to ask CASA, the examiner or the employer about this document.

Table 1 below applies those columns to four illustrative rows. The rows are a hypothetical example and are not findings about any actual pilot.

Table 1 shows the main discipline: a recollected entry such as D-004 is carried in the register but contributes no supported hours. The interpretive point is that the "supported time" column is filled only from what the document itself states, while everything the pilot believes but cannot show sits in the "unresolved" column. Authentication and overlap are separate columns because a well-authenticated summary can still double-count with a flight list that starts inside its period.

The Reconstruction Method in Six Steps

Step 1: Identify the missing record, jurisdiction and period

State what is missing, where the flying occurred and the period. CASA's guidance says overseas hours are recorded with the Australian capacity that matches the role performed (Source: www.casa.gov.au), so a history spanning several authorities needs one register per jurisdiction.

Step 2: Preserve surviving records and list what each proves

Before requesting anything, copy what survives: photographs of remaining pages, old app exports, emailed summaries and rosters, noting the date obtained on each. The 7-year retention expectation is a useful test of what ought to exist: CASA's guidance says the logbook should be retained for 7 years from the last date of entry (Source: www.casa.gov.au).

Step 3: Map employer, school and third-party records to dates and facts

CASA identifies flying school and employer records as candidate sources. Several Australian rules affect how long those records exist and how they can be requested:

• Air transport operators: under Part 119, records of flying experience gained by flight crew must be made within 21 days (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), made available to the person within 7 days of a request (Source: www.legislation.gov.au), and kept until 5 years after the member ceases to be part of the operator's personnel (Source: www.legislation.gov.au). The regulation covers personnel training and checking records, including flying experience mentioned in the relevant subparts, so it should not be assumed to be a complete flight-by-flight ledger.
• Employee records generally: the Fair Work Ombudsman says employee records must be kept for 7 years (Source: www.fairwork.gov.au) and that employers must make copies available to an employee or former employee on request (Source: www.fairwork.gov.au). Hours-of-work records are only required in some circumstances (Source: www.fairwork.gov.au), so a payroll record may not carry flight hours.
• Privacy access requests: the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says requesting personal information is free (Source: www.oaic.gov.au) and that 30 days is a reasonable response period (Source: www.oaic.gov.au); the guidelines add that an organisation cannot charge for making the request itself (Source: www.oaic.gov.au). Whether a particular holder is covered by the Privacy Act is a separate question to confirm.
• Defence: the Department of Defence says personal information about Australian Defence Force members is actioned within 30 days (Source: www.defence.gov.au), and its page lists service records among the record types (Source: www.defence.gov.au). The page does not mention flying logbooks, so a former member should ask specifically which flight records exist.
• Third parties: a US guide lists tracker history and medical applications that state total hours among supplementary sources ^[2]; these are suggestions from a US publisher, not Australian requirements.

Step 4: Reconstruct a source-linked history with overlaps and unknowns visible

Build the history chronologically, one line per flight or summary period, each citing a document ID. Where documents cover the same dates or disagree, keep both values and mark the overlap or disagreement; the receiving body, not the compiler, decides which to prefer.

Table 2 below reconciles the synthetic example from the introduction. It is a hypothetical example and is not a finding about an actual pilot, nor a statement that a summary alone suffices as proof.

The arithmetic in Table 2 is 600 + 45 - 5 = 640. If the 12 recollected hours were silently added the record would claim 652 hours, of which 12, about 1.8 per cent, would have no document behind them. The reconciliation table also shows why overlap is a separate line: five hours that appear in both the summary and the flight list would otherwise be counted twice, and the error would sit inside a total that looks well-supported.

Step 5: Assemble the declaration and supporting pack

CASA's page says a statutory declaration is needed for any records entered in a new logbook. It does not say which kind. The Attorney-General's Department explains general Commonwealth rules, which may or may not be the form CASA expects. The department states that a witnessed Commonwealth declaration cannot be made on a self-created form (Source: www.ag.gov.au), that approved witnesses are those prescribed under Schedule 1 of the regulations (Source: www.ag.gov.au), that a person cannot witness their own declaration (Source: www.ag.gov.au), and that a declaration witnessed incorrectly is invalid (Source: www.ag.gov.au). A digital declaration made through myGov needs no witness but requires a Digital Identity connected to the myGov account (Source: www.ag.gov.au). The department's approved form states the offence for a false statement and a punishment of 4 years' imprisonment (Source: www.ag.gov.au).

These are general Commonwealth rules, not a CASA-specific procedure. Whether CASA, an examiner or an employer will accept a Commonwealth declaration, a state declaration or a different attestation is a question for them. The pack should let whichever form is requested be completed from it: the register, the reconciliation, copies of each cited document and a short statement of what was lost and how the history was built.

Certification of copies is a separate matter. A Services Australia page, for its own purposes, describes certifying a copy by the referee writing a true-copy statement on each copy (Source: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au); who may certify depends on the body asking. CASA's own certification requirement, in the electronic logbook context, is that the holder certifies each printed page.

Step 6: Produce a clearly labelled reconstructed record and test the files

Label the new logbook as a reconstruction from its first page, with a cover note listing the register version and date. Keep reconstructed entries visually and electronically distinct from entries made contemporaneously after the loss. If an electronic format is used, run these checks, because CASA's rule for electronic logbooks depends on a printable, certifiable copy:

• Reopen the export: open it on a second device that has no connection to the original app.
• Reopen each attachment: confirm every PDF and photo opens and matches its register line.
• Print a sample page: confirm the printed copy is complete and legible enough to certify page by page.
• Cross-check totals: re-add the printed subtotals against the reconciliation table.

Keep an offline copy and a paper index of the documents behind each line.

When a Lifetime Total Survives but the Role Breakdown Does Not

This is the hardest case, and the one the existing US-oriented guides address least. A surviving figure such as an employer-certified lifetime total proves a quantity of time. CASA's logbook rules treat the capacity as a fact about each flight, so a total with no breakdown supports "time flown", not "hours as PIC", "hours as co-pilot" or "hours as PICUS".

Why arithmetic cannot assign roles

Roles are constrained by the flight, not by the pilot's total. Only one pilot can log PIC on a flight, co-pilot time exists only in aircraft that must be operated by at least 2 pilots, and a second pilot on a single-pilot aircraft has a loggable capacity only as PIC, PICUS or a pilot receiving flight training. A lifetime total therefore cannot be apportioned by proportion. A document that names the aircraft commander for each flight can bound what the other pilot may claim, but it does not on its own show what that pilot did.

A transparent way to carry the gap

Suppose an operator certifies 1,800 total hours across a career, and crew pairing records from the same operator identify the aircraft as a type requiring two pilots on flights totalling 1,100 hours, with a different captain named on each. This is a hypothetical example. The register could carry:

• Total time: 1,800 supported by the certified summary.
• Co-pilot time: up to 1,100 supported by pairing records, subject to confirmation that those flights were flown in the pilot's own seat.
• Unallocated time: 700 supported as flight time but with no capacity evidence.
• PIC and PICUS time: none supported until a document shows the pilot was commander or acting under supervision.

The unallocated 700 hours are not discarded and not assigned. They are shown as flight time whose role is unresolved, and the receiving-purpose question asks whether the recipient can use total time alone for the purpose, or needs role detail from the operator. That framing keeps the lifetime total usable where it is sufficient and exposes precisely where it is not.

What a flight tracker can and cannot add

Flight-tracking services can help identify a route or aircraft on a date, but they record aircraft movements, not the occupant of a seat. Their data also has coverage and history limits. Airservices Australia describes its Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations as line-of-sight facilities ^[7] with surface coverage within 20 nautical miles of a ground station ^[7]. Flightradar24 notes areas where it lacks ADS-B or multilateration coverage ^[8] and says its estimated positions can be incorrect ^[8]. History windows differ by provider: Flightradar24 says anyone can view the past 7 days with Silver subscribers at 90 days ^[1], and FlightAware's history page states a basic user can view 3 months ^[9]. For a flight older than the window, the tracker may offer nothing. A tracker line belongs in the register as a corroborating identifier, never as capacity evidence.

Preserving the Reconstructed Record

Electronic logbooks in Australia

CASA says a logbook can be paper or electronic and that a pilot may use an electronic program or app (Source: www.casa.gov.au). On the pages consulted, CASA does not describe an approval or certification scheme for logbook apps; what it requires of an electronic logbook is a printed, certified copy on direction (Source: www.casa.gov.au). Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus) states in its advisory publication RAAP 13 (version 1.0, February 2022) that it will accept logbook information in electronic form (Source: www.raa.asn.au), that an electronic logbook should create an audit history of changes (Source: www.raa.asn.au), and that logbooks produced on request must be printed and each page certified by the holder (Source: www.raa.asn.au), and that CASA has indicated pilots may have to provide a printed copy in some circumstances (Source: www.raa.asn.au). A European comparison is Pilot EFB's statement that no authority, EASA or FAA, certifies a commercial logbook app as such ^[3]; it says nothing about CASA.

Table 3 below compares what several electronic logbooks document about export, backup, attachments and Australian printing, drawn from each vendor's own page as read in November 2026. These are vendor statements, not independent tests, and none of the pages read states that CASA or any regulator accepts its exports.

Table 3 shows that products differ in what an export contains. LogTen's page, for example, says a spreadsheet export does not include signatures or other images, so an export alone is not a full backup of everything a pilot may attach. The Pilot Logbook row reflects the vendor's own product page as read for this article and is not independently verified. Its limits are the same as every row: a backup restores only what was entered, an attached PDF shows what a document says rather than proving a pilot's role, and a printout from any product is not automatically accepted by a recipient.

What Pilot Logbook offers, and what it does not

Pilot Logbook is invitation-only; pilots can request an invite. The publisher describes it as offering whole-logbook export, encrypted backups and change history; these are vendor statements that this article does not independently verify. For a reconstruction, the relevant uses are narrow: holding the reconstructed record and its attachments in one place, and exporting the whole logbook afterwards for offline copies. It does not create records of flights that were never entered, and a reconstructed entry stays a reconstructed entry whichever tool stores it.

A preservation routine after reconstruction

• Export on a schedule: download the full export and attachments, then reopen them on a different device to confirm they open.
• Keep an offline copy: store one copy not tied to any account or app.
• Keep a paper index: a one-page list of every source document and where the original is held.
• Keep the register: retain the register and reconciliation tables with the reconstructed logbook, as they explain how each line was derived.
• Mind the retention clock: CASA expects a logbook to be retained for 7 years after the last entry, so the reconstruction and its supporting pack need the same retention discipline.

Data Analysis and Evidence

The figures that govern a reconstruction are mostly time limits, and they come from different bodies with different clocks. Most are cited where they first appear in this article; the list collects them for comparison.

• Logbook retention (CASA): 7 years after the last entry, entries unaltered.
• Production on direction (CASA): 7 days to produce an up-to-date logbook (regulation 61.365); 14 days to correct a directed entry (regulation 61.360) ^[15].
• Operator experience records (Part 119; sources cited earlier in this article): made within 21 days, available within 7 days of request, kept until 5 years after the member leaves.
• Employee records (Fair Work Ombudsman): 7 years (Source: www.fairwork.gov.au).
• Privacy access (OAIC): 30 days is a reasonable response period (Source: www.oaic.gov.au).
• Defence personal information requests: actioned within 30 days (Source: www.defence.gov.au); copies of service records on the ex-member request form are typically completed within 30 days (Source: www.defence.gov.au).
• Tracker history windows: Flightradar24, 7 days for anyone; FlightAware, 3 months for a basic user ^[9], and a 14-day search window on the history page ^[9].
• US comparison: one US guide quotes roughly 10 to 12 weeks for FAA file requests ^[2], a reminder that response times are measured in weeks, not days.

The experience thresholds show why totals and breakdowns both matter. CASA's commercial pilot licence (CPL) page states that a CPL holder cannot be PIC of a single-pilot certified aeroplane above 5,700 kg maximum take-off weight in an air transport operation unless they have 750 hours of flight time as pilot of an aeroplane (Source: www.casa.gov.au). Its licence tables set separate minimums for aeronautical experience, flight time as pilot, PIC and others, so a record may need to evidence several categories at once. A total-only reconstruction can meet a total threshold in principle and still leave category thresholds unevidenced.

Two observations follow. The retention windows are not aligned: a pilot's 7-year obligation, an operator's 5-years-after-leaving obligation and the 7-year employee-records rule expire at different dates, so the most recent period is usually the best documented. And because responses take weeks, requests with the longest lead time should go first. None of these figures say what an assessor will accept.

No public dataset of how many Australian pilots lose logbooks, or how often reconstructed totals are accepted, was found. The search-demand estimate available for this topic is small and US-based, so it does not describe Australian demand and is not used here.

Implications and Future Directions

For pilots, the practical implication is that the sources behind the logbook are what rescue it. Keeping employer summaries, certified exports and training records as a habit, with a dated index, converts a future loss from a reconstruction into a retrieval.

For logbook tools, the lesson is to separate the entry, the attachment that supports it and the export that preserves both. An attachment shows what a document says, not the pilot's role, and exports differ in whether they include signatures and images, so test an export before relying on it.

For the regulator and professional bodies, the open question is explicit. CASA's guidance requires a statutory declaration but, on the page consulted, does not describe the declaration's form, witness or submission arrangements, or how aggregate-only evidence is assessed. Pilot associations and independent logbook-audit services could publish worked examples, but no such Australian resource was found in this research, and no claim is made about what they might do.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do you reconstruct pilot logbook hours?

Build a register of documents, record what each states, reconcile overlaps and carry unsupported time separately. The 600 + 45 - 5 = 640 illustration shows the method; a recollected 12 hours stays unresolved. The result is a reconstruction of supported time, not a guarantee of acceptance. A US guide likewise advises a signed statement of the sources used and the resulting totals, with supporting documents kept with it ^[2], though that is US advice and not an Australian procedure.

Does CASA hold a copy of a pilot's logbook?

No. CASA states it does not hold logbook information for individuals, though licence, ratings and endorsements can be viewed through myCASA.

Can a lost pilot logbook be replaced with a new one?

CASA's guidance contemplates a new logbook containing reconstructed records with a statutory declaration. The record obligations of CASR 61.345 to 61.365 described above still apply to the new logbook.

What are the CASA logbook requirements?

A holder of a flight crew licence or certificate of validation must keep a logbook recording items such as date, aircraft type, take-off and landing points, capacity flown and instrument time. Retention is 7 years after the last entry, and entries must not be false or misleading.

What counts as lost logbook flight hours proof?

CASA's page names other records, such as flying school or employer records. This article treats each document as proof of the narrow thing it states. Whether a recipient accepts a given combination is for that recipient to decide; one comparison guide makes the same point, that the licensing authority decides what it will accept ^[3].

Can flight hours be reconstructed without a logbook?

Only to the extent other records support the time. Recollection alone stays in the unresolved column of the register. Flight-tracker data may identify an aircraft but records movements, not seats, and has history limits such as 7 days for anyone on Flightradar24 ^[1].

Is there an electronic pilot logbook for Australia, and is one CASA approved?

CASA says a pilot may use an electronic program or app. On the pages read, CASA does not describe an approval list for apps; it asks for a printed copy with each page certified when it directs production. Some products list a CASA Australia print layout, for example Safelog ^[13]; a layout is a format, not an approval. Confirm with CASA if approval status matters for a submission.

Conclusion

Losing a pilot logbook in Australia leaves a documented route but a thin set of rules. CASA says a pilot may reconstruct flying history in a new logbook from other records and make a statutory declaration for the records entered, and it holds no logbook information for individuals. CASR 61.345 to 61.365 supply the record obligations the new logbook must meet: entries as soon as practicable, 7-year retention, no false or misleading entries and production within 7 days of direction.

What the sources do not supply is a reconstruction standard. They do not say how aggregate-only evidence is assessed, what declaration wording is expected, or whether a reconstructed total will be accepted for a given licence or rating. This article therefore recommends the discipline that fits the uncertainty: an evidence register, a reconciliation that removes overlaps and keeps unsupported time visible, role-by-role capacity evidence, a clearly labelled reconstructed record and a pack from which any requested declaration can be completed.

The decision rule is simple. Supported facts go into the record, with their sources. Unresolved recollections stay out of the totals and are disclosed. The recipient, whether CASA, an examiner or an employer, decides what to accept. After the reconstruction, exports, offline copies and a paper index protect the work; the electronic logbooks compared above can hold and export the record, though none can restore flights that were never entered. Pilots with a live submission should confirm requirements with CASA for that specific case.