FAR 91 Point 113 - The Right-of-Way Rules That Every Pilot Learns and Half Get Wrong in the Air

FAR 91.113 establishes the right-of-way rules governing every pilot-in-command operating without a controller. The regulation sets a priority hierarchy by aircraft category, then adds four situational rules covering converging, head-on, overtaking, and landing scenarios. Most pilots can recite the hierarchy - but applying it correctly under real cockpit workload is where the gaps show up.

What is the right-of-way priority hierarchy under FAR 91.113?

The regulation assigns priority in a fixed order, from highest to lowest:

1. Aircraft in distress - always, no exceptions. Any aircraft that has declared an emergency or is visibly in trouble has absolute priority.
2. Balloons
3. Gliders
4. Airships (blimps, dirigibles)
5. Aircraft towing or refueling other aircraft
6. All other powered aircraft

The logic behind this ranking isn’t arbitrary - it reflects each category’s ability to maneuver. Balloons go where the wind goes and cannot execute evasive action. Gliders are constrained by lift and gravity in ways powered aircraft are not. Airships have extremely limited agility. A towing combination is essentially a rigid system that cannot make sharp turns or slow below a minimum speed without losing the tow. Each category ranks above powered aircraft because it has fewer options, not because it’s inherently more important.

When you’re flying a Cessna 172 and a hot air balloon appears at your altitude three miles ahead, you alter course. Not because the balloon pilot has more skill - because they have no ability to get out of your way.

Who has right of way when two aircraft are converging?

When two aircraft of the same category are converging at approximately the same altitude - not head-on - the aircraft on the right has right of way. The aircraft on the left must give way.

The detail most pilots get wrong: when you’re the one yielding, you turn right. That takes you behind the other aircraft. Turning left - which feels intuitive to some - takes you across their flight path and directly into the conflict. The geometry matters as much as the rule.

What do both pilots do in a head-on situation?

In a head-on or near head-on encounter, neither aircraft has right of way over the other. Both pilots turn right. Both simultaneously. The aircraft pass left wing to left wing.

This is worth hardwiring as a trained response, not a reasoned decision. A closing speed of 260 knots - common between two general aviation aircraft - covers more than four miles per minute. By the time you visually acquire head-on traffic, your reaction window may be under a minute. The instinct to turn right needs to be automatic.

Who yields when one aircraft is overtaking another?

The overtaking aircraft - the faster one catching up from behind - must alter course to the right and pass well to the right of the slower aircraft. The word “well” is in the regulation deliberately. A tight squeeze doesn’t satisfy it.

Once you’re in an overtaking situation, you remain responsible for not hitting the aircraft ahead. The slower aircraft is not required to move out of your way. You chose to catch up to them. You own the pass.

This applies directly at busy uncontrolled airports. If you’re flying a faster aircraft and catching a slower one in the pattern, you cannot pressure that airplane out of your way. You extend your downwind, widen your pattern, or slow down. Right of way belongs to the aircraft being overtaken.

Who has right of way during landing?

An aircraft on final approach or landing has right of way over aircraft in flight or on the surface. When two aircraft are approaching to land simultaneously, the lower aircraft has right of way - with a sharp caveat the regulation adds immediately.

The lower aircraft cannot use that priority to cut in front of or overtake another aircraft already on final. If you’re on a long, low final and someone else is on a shorter, higher final, your lower altitude gives you priority - but it does not give you the right to fly in underneath them and force a go-around. That maneuver is exactly what the regulation prohibits.

The categorical hierarchy also remains in effect during the landing phase. A glider on final has right of way over a powered aircraft on final. If you’re on a one-mile final in your Piper Cherokee and a glider enters on a longer final, the glider has priority.

Can you establish right of way by maneuvering into another aircraft’s path?

No. FAR 91.113 explicitly prohibits maneuvering into the path of a converging aircraft to claim a more favorable position. You cannot dive below someone and then claim you’re lower and therefore have priority. The regulation anticipates that interpretation and shuts it down.

Do radio calls determine right of way at uncontrolled airports?

No. FAR 91.113 is a right-of-way rule, not a radio rule. An aircraft on final has right of way whether or not the pilot made a CTAF call. The aircraft on the right has right of way whether or not they transmitted anything. Radio calls at uncontrolled airports are coordination and courtesy - valuable and expected - but they do not create or transfer legal right of way.

Conflating the two is a common error. An airplane that didn’t call out does not lose its right of way. The traffic pattern has legal structure even in silence.

How should you answer right-of-way questions on your checkride?

Your Designated Pilot Examiner will likely present a converging scenario and ask who has right of way. The examiner is looking for reasoning, not just an answer.

Don’t say: “The one on the right.”

Say: “In a converging situation between two aircraft of the same category, the aircraft to the other’s right has right of way. The aircraft on the left must give way by turning right to pass behind - not in front of - the other aircraft.” That tells the examiner you understand the geometry, not just the vocabulary.

For categorical scenarios - “you see a glider at your altitude on a converging course, what do you do?” - know your hierarchy cold. You yield, because gliders have priority over all powered aircraft.

See and avoid: right of way is not a force field

Having right of way does not remove your responsibility to see and avoid other aircraft. You cannot fly into a converging aircraft and cite right of way after the fact. The FAA and the NTSB do not accept that argument. Right of way tells you when you must yield. It does not guarantee the other pilot sees you and will act correctly.

The practical standard: know who has right of way so you know when to yield - and never fly as though your priority is a guarantee.

There’s something worth noting in the turn-right convention that runs through both the head-on and overtaking rules. If both pilots independently follow the regulation, they move in the same direction and avoid the collision. The rule creates predictability at closing speeds the human brain was not designed to manage. That predictability is the entire point.

Key Takeaways

• The FAR 91.113 priority hierarchy - distress, balloon, glider, airship, tow, powered - is ranked by maneuverability, not arbitrary importance.
• In a converging situation, the aircraft on the right has right of way; the yielding aircraft turns right to pass behind.
• In a head-on encounter, both aircraft turn right simultaneously - no one has priority over the other.
• The overtaking aircraft is always responsible for the pass, regardless of who was there first.
• A lower aircraft on final has priority but cannot use it to cut in front of an aircraft already established on approach.
• Right of way is not determined by radio calls - legal priority exists whether or not anyone is transmitting.
• See and avoid is a permanent obligation; right of way never transfers that responsibility to the other pilot.