Are the Pilot’s Operating Handbook and Airplane Flight Manual the Same?

Aviation community uses the terms interchangeably, but the FAA says they are different.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

According to the FAA, the AFM is the legally required document for a particular aircraft, while a Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) is usually a more general, standardized document for that type of aircraft. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) is the legally required document for a specific aircraft, uniquely identified by its serial number, whereas a Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) is generally a standardized document for an aircraft type.
A POH can only fulfill the legal requirement if it is an approved copy of the AFM for that particular aircraft, including its serial number, and AFMs may contain supplementary operating limitations unique to an individual aircraft not found in a general POH.
The required AFM or approved POH can be carried in either a hard copy or digital format.

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Question: Is there a difference between a pilot’s operating handbook (POH) and airplane flight manual (AFM)? I hear the terms being used interchangeably.

Answer: According to the FAA, the AFM is the legally required document for a particular aircraft, while a POH is usually a more general, standardized document for that type of aircraft.

Regulations require that a “current and approved Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) be on board the aircraft.”