You seem to equate having hands on the controls as being PIC. That is not automatically true. Who signed for the aircraft?
Ok TT I'll bite:
I hope you will accept that someone who is operating an aircraft - particularly
as "sole manipulator of the controls" during Take Off, Approach and Landing
is acting as a Pilot. Lets call them "Pilot Flying".
Even though they cannot legaly carry passengers you are saying this doesn't matter as the
person sitting next to them is actually the "Pilot In Command".
In this situation there are, by your reasoning,
two Pilots on board:
"
Pilot Flying" and "
Pilot In Command"
But in
single-pilot operations there cannot be two pilots. In this case
"PF" and "PIC"
have to be the same individual. Therefore whoever is the
(one) pilot has to be legal for all aspects of the flight because the
other person on board is just a passenger.
AMC1 FCL.060(b)(1) Gives two specific exemptions to this:
PIC is an Instructor or PIC is an Examiner.
There is
no exemption given for PIC is a valid License Holder.
If the PF cannot take passengers then they have to fly solo (PIC themselves) or fly with an Instructor or Examiner as PIC.
"Highly experienced and capable pilot wants to go on a trip with a friend, and fly the return leg, but has only done two Take Offs and Landings in preceeding 90 days (due weather, holidays, etc). So friend flies to destination, lands, then hands control to experienced pilot to initiate a take off, fly a circuit and land. Experienced pilot now relying on being in currency flies the leg back to home base. Unfortunately, just after touchdown, during his landing roll a herd of deer dash across the runway (it does happen) causing experienced pilot to swerve, leave the runway and hit a parked aircraft. Accident completely not the pilot's fault but the AAIB note his lack of flying in the last three months and look closer at his experience - The CAA then ask why he had a passenger on board when he wasn't in currency and the insurance company won't pay up because it was an illegal flight and CAA start asking questions of the friend about
allowing a non-qualified person to fly the aircraft when they are not an Instructor.........."
"Ah!" But experienced pilot says "There was this post on PPRuNe where TT
explained this was perfectly allowable"
This thread has turned out to be very useful as it has elicited the actual
rules with references on where to find them. Especially the one
from Mr Average:
Little known fact is that, if you do your 3 with an instructor, passengers may not be carried GM1 FCL.060(b)(1) Recent experience
But I don't quite see that the discussion is so important. If a pilot is current in all ways, except the 90 day rule for carrying passengers, then, surely, it must be easiest and cheapest to fly the requirement solo. Why want to have anyone else on board?