What the actual law states:
Pilot in Command for a flight review.
The dictionary in volume 5 of the CASRs defines who the pilot in command is:
pilot in command, in relation to a flight of an aircraft, means the pilot designated by the operator of the aircraft as being in command and charged with the safe conduct of the flight.
This requires us to know who the operator is, which is also defined in the dictionary as:
operator, of an aircraft, means:
(a) if the operation of the aircraft is authorised by an AOC, a Part 141 certificate or an aerial work certificate—the holder of the AOC or certificate; or
(b) otherwise—the person, organisation or enterprise engaged in aircraft operations involving the aircraft.
Which requires us to know if it is Part 141 training
141.015 Definitions of Part 141 flight training, authorised Part 141 flight training, Part 141 operator and Part 141 certificate
(1) Part 141 flight training is any of the following that is conducted in an aircraft or flight simulation training device:
(f)training, other than training conducted as a multi‑crew operation, that is given as part of a flight review;
So from a legal perspective:
1. If a flight review involves training it has to be conducted by a Part 141 operator, therefore the Part 141 Operator has to designate who the pilot in command is.
2. If a flight review does not involve training, the owner of the aircraft can be the operator, and can designate who the pilot in command is.
Logging of flight time.
The dictionary in volume 5 of the CASRs defines pilot in command under supervision as:
pilot in command under supervision has the meaning given by regulation 61.010.
Which leads us to:
61.010 Definitions for Part 61
In this Part:
pilot in command under supervision means a pilot, other than a student pilot, who performs the duties and functions of the pilot in command of an aircraft under the supervision of a pilot who is authorised by the operator of the aircraft to conduct the supervision.
For logging of flight time as ICUS we need to look at regulation 61.095
61.095 Definition of flight time as pilot in command under supervision for Part 61
(1) A person’s flight time as pilot in command under supervision is the duration of a flight if:
(a) the person holds a pilot licence; and
(b) the person performs all the duties of the pilot in command for the flight; and
(c) subregulation (2) or (3) applies to the flight.
(2) For paragraph (1)(c), this subregulation applies to the flight if:
(a) the flight is conducted by an operator that has training and checking responsibilities; and
(b) the pilot in command of the flight is authorised by the operator or the operator’s Part 142 operator to conduct the supervision of the person.
(3) For paragraph (1)(c), this subregulation applies to the flight if:
(a) the person is supervised by a flight instructor or flight examiner; and
(b) the person is not receiving flight training.
So providing no training is given during the flight review, it can be logged as ICUS by any pilot that holds a pilot licence even if they don't hold a valid flight review.
And finally for a couple of my thoughts:
- It is critical from a safety perspective that there is only one pilot in command at a time, and everyone understands who it is. If there can be a change of PIC during a flight, how and when that change will occur has to be very clearly defined by the operator so that there is no confusion as to who is in command at any time
- I can't see many instructors being prepared to do a flight review for someone that they have not flown with recently unless they are the pilot in command. If you can find someone, great, otherwise I'd suggest you do your flight review in someone else's aircraft.