What must a private pilot do to carry passengers legally?

To legally carry passengers, a private pilot must have completed three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days. This requirement ensures that the pilot maintains recent flight experience, particularly critical maneuvers such as takeoffs and landings, which are essential skills for safely operating an aircraft with passengers onboard. The regulation specifies these landings must be to a full stop if the pilot is carrying passengers at night.

While other factors, like medical certification and aircraft endorsements, play important roles in a pilot's legal and safe operation, they do not specifically address the requirement for carrying passengers. A second class medical certificate is necessary for the general medical fitness of the pilot but does not pertain directly to passenger carrying ability. Similarly, while endorsements for specific aircraft are important for ensuring a pilot is adequately trained for that particular aircraft, they are not a blanket requirement for carrying passengers. Limitations on flying during daytime also do not extend to passenger carrying regulations on their own, as a pilot could legally carry passengers after meeting the requisite experience without those time restrictions.