FAR ninety-one dot one thirteen and the right-of-way rules that keep you from swapping paint at three thousand feet

FAR 91.113 establishes the right-of-way rules that prevent midair collisions in the National Airspace System. The regulation creates a hierarchy based on maneuverability — the aircraft least able to get out of the way has priority — and defines specific procedures for converging, head-on, overtaking, and landing scenarios. Understanding the logic behind these rules, not just memorizing them, is what separates a student who passes the written from a pilot who stays safe.

What Is the Foundation of FAR 91.113?

Before any specific scenario, paragraph (a) establishes the most important principle: when weather conditions permit, regardless of whether you are flying IFR or VFR, you are responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. Even on an IFR flight plan with ATC providing traffic advisories, the see-and-avoid obligation never transfers to the controller. They are helping. They are not replacing your eyes.

Paragraph (b) reinforces this with language every pilot should internalize: each pilot in command shall take whatever action is necessary to avoid a collision, even if they have the right of way. The FAA placed this clause near the top of the regulation deliberately. Right of way is a coordination concept, not a force field. No rule prevents a midair collision. Only pilots prevent midair collisions.

How Does the Aircraft Right-of-Way Hierarchy Work?

The regulation assigns priority based on a single principle: the least maneuverable aircraft wins. The full hierarchy, from highest to lowest priority:

1. Aircraft in distress — right of way over all other air traffic, no exceptions
2. Balloons — cannot steer; they go where the wind goes
3. Gliders — no engine, cannot add power to climb away from a conflict
4. Airships — right of way over powered parachutes, weight-shift-control aircraft, airplanes, and rotorcraft
5. Powered parachutes and weight-shift-control aircraft
6. Airplanes and rotorcraft — the most maneuverable, and therefore the most likely to yield

You do not need to memorize this list by brute force. If you are flying a Cessna 172, you have an engine, ailerons, a rudder, and full control authority. You are the most maneuverable aircraft in most encounters, which means you are usually the one who gives way.

What Happens When Two Aircraft Are Converging?

Paragraph (d) covers converging aircraft of the same category at approximately the same altitude: the aircraft on the right has the right of way. Think of it like driving — yield to the right.

If a Cherokee is at your two o’clock, same altitude, and your flight paths will intersect if nobody acts, that Cherokee has priority. Alter your course — turn right, descend, climb — but do not sit there hoping the other pilot sees you.

This rule applies specifically to converging flight paths, not parallel courses and not head-on approaches. Converging means your paths will intersect if neither pilot takes action.

This rule also applies on the ground. When taxiing at a non-towered airport and another airplane approaches from your right, they have the right of way. At towered airports, ground control manages the flow, but at uncontrolled fields, 91.113 is the only traffic management system available.

What Do You Do in a Head-On Encounter?

Paragraph (e) is straightforward: when two aircraft are approaching head-on or nearly so, each pilot shall alter course to the right. Both pilots turn right. You pass left-to-left, the same convention as cars on a two-lane road.

The key word is each. This is not a question of who has priority. Both pilots move. Both turn right.

Who Yields When Overtaking Another Aircraft?

Paragraph (f) surprises many students. If you are overtaking another aircraft — approaching from behind at a higher speed — the aircraft being overtaken has the right of way. The faster aircraft must alter course to the right to pass.

The regulation defines the overtaking zone as anything more than 70 degrees from the nose of the aircraft being overtaken. If you are approaching from behind, even slightly off to one side, you are the overtaking aircraft and you yield.

The logic is sound: the airplane ahead of you probably has no idea you are there. Their blind spot is directly behind and below. You have the visual advantage, so you have the responsibility to manage the situation.

How Do Right-of-Way Rules Apply During Landing?

Paragraph (g) is where 91.113 gets specific and where the most real-world confusion occurs.

The aircraft at the lower altitude has the right of way when two or more aircraft are approaching an airport to land. However, the regulation explicitly prohibits the lower aircraft from exploiting this rule — you cannot cut in front of or overtake another aircraft on final approach.

The spirit of the rule: the lower aircraft is more committed to landing, closer to the ground, with less room to maneuver. It is not a loophole for aggressive positioning. Diving below someone on a three-mile final and claiming priority because you are lower violates both the letter and the intent of the regulation.

Additional landing rules:

• An aircraft on final approach or landing has the right of way over other aircraft in flight or on the surface
• When two aircraft are both on final, the one at lower altitude has priority
• You shall not land when another aircraft is on the runway — obvious in theory, but visit a busy non-towered airport on a Saturday morning and watch how often it nearly happens

Who Has Priority — Traffic Pattern or Straight-In Approach?

This is one of the most debated scenarios in general aviation, and the regulation does not specifically address it. FAR 91.113 says the lower aircraft has priority when two are approaching to land, subject to the no-cutting-in restriction. The Aeronautical Information Manual recommends using the standard traffic pattern but does not prohibit straight-in approaches at non-towered fields.

The practical answer: communicate. If you are in the pattern and someone announces a straight-in, announce your positions and work it out. The regulation provides a framework, but good airmanship fills the gaps. A pilot who insists on right of way at the expense of safety has won the argument and lost the point.

Why Do Midair Collisions Still Happen?

Midair collisions almost always involve VFR aircraft in good weather near airports — the exact conditions where pilots feel safest and let their guard down the most. Unlimited visibility creates a false sense of security that reduces scan discipline precisely when traffic density is highest.

Every regulation exists because something went wrong. FAR 91.113 exists because the sky is big and empty until suddenly it is not.

Key Takeaways

• The least maneuverable aircraft always has priority — balloons over gliders, gliders over airplanes, and aircraft in distress over everything
• Converging: yield to the right. Head-on: both turn right. Overtaking: pass on the right and yield. These three rules cover most in-flight encounters
• Lower aircraft has landing priority, but you cannot use altitude to cut in front of someone already on final
• Paragraph (b) overrides everything: avoid the collision regardless of who technically has the right of way
• Communication at non-towered airports is what makes the rules work in practice — the regulation provides the framework, airmanship fills the gaps