FAR Ninety-One One Thirteen, the Right-of-Way Rules, and Who Actually Has to Give Way When Two Airplanes Meet in the Same Piece of Sky

When two aircraft converge at the same altitude, the aircraft on the right has the right of way. In a head-on situation, both pilots turn right. An overtaking aircraft always gives way by passing to the right. But the single most important rule in FAR 91.113 overrides all of these: regardless of who has the right of way, every pilot has a duty to see and avoid other aircraft. Having the right of way is priority, not protection.

What Is FAR 91.113 and Why Does It Exist?

FAR 91.113 is the section of the Federal Aviation Regulations that governs right-of-way rules for aircraft. Its purpose is not to decide who “wins” a conflict. Its purpose is to remove the argument.

In the air, hesitation is dangerous. If two pilots both wait to see what the other will do, that is the worst possible outcome. So the regulation decides in advance who turns, so both pilots already know exactly what each will do before they ever meet.

The rule opens with a sentence worth memorizing: regardless of who has the right of way, it is the duty of each person operating an aircraft to see and avoid other aircraft. Right of way is not a shield. You can be “dead right” and still be responsible for not hitting someone. Priority never relieves you of the duty to avoid a collision.

Who Has the Right of Way When Two Aircraft Are Converging?

When two aircraft are converging at approximately the same altitude, and it is not head-on, the aircraft on the right has the right of way.

Think of a four-way stop in a car: traffic on your right goes first. If another aircraft is converging from your right side - your two o’clock or three o’clock - that pilot has priority. You give way.

The key detail people forget: you give way by passing behind them. Alter course to the right, slow down if needed, and pass behind their tail. Do not try to cut across their nose to beat them.

Now flip it. If traffic is off to your left - your nine or ten o’clock - then you are the aircraft on the right and you have the right of way. Hold your course and speed so the other pilot can predict you and pass behind you. Your predictability is what lets them avoid you.

But if that pilot on your left never saw you, your right of way means nothing to the aluminum. See and avoid still applies. You turn, climb, or descend anyway. You lose an argument you were winning, and you both stay alive.

What Do You Do in a Head-On Situation?

When two aircraft approach each other head-on, or nearly so, neither aircraft has the right of way. The rule is symmetric: each aircraft shall alter course to the right.

You go right, they go right, and you pass left side to left side - like two cars on the road. It works precisely because both pilots do the same thing. If one turned right and one turned left, they would turn into each other.

The practical takeaway: when in doubt, turn right. A right turn is never the wrong answer in a closure situation. It matches the head-on rule, and it also passes you behind converging traffic coming from your left. Make the right break your reflex.

Who Gives Way When One Aircraft Is Overtaking Another?

The aircraft being overtaken has the right of way. The faster aircraft doing the passing must give way, and the rule is specific: the overtaking aircraft shall alter course to the right to pass well clear.

To the right - even if there appears to be more room on the left. The regulation wants everyone breaking the same direction so the movement is predictable.

Note the phrase “well clear,” not barely clear. If you are in a faster airplane running down a slower one - say a Bonanza catching a Cub on a cross-country - move right and give real room. You have no idea if that pilot is about to turn, and your wake could ruin their day.

What Is the Right-of-Way Hierarchy Between Aircraft Types?

FAR 91.113 does not treat all aircraft as equals. It builds a hierarchy based on maneuverability, and the logic is simple: the less able an aircraft is to get out of the way, the more right of way it gets.

From most protected to least:

• Aircraft in distress - an aircraft declaring an emergency has the right of way over all other air traffic. Everyone else moves.
• Balloons - a balloon has the right of way over everything except an aircraft in distress. A balloon goes where the wind goes and cannot turn to avoid you.
• Gliders - a glider has the right of way over an airplane, airship, and rotorcraft. A glider works only with the energy it has and cannot add power to climb out of a conflict.
• Aircraft towing or refueling - hard to maneuver while dragging something, so they get priority over ordinary powered flight.
• Airplanes, airships, and rotorcraft - the rest of us. We have engines and controls and the most ability to move, so we give way to everything above.

The more capable you are, the more responsibility you carry to move. It is not about status - it is about physics and fairness.

Who Has the Right of Way When Landing?

Aircraft on final approach to land, or already landing, have the right of way over aircraft in flight and over aircraft on the surface. This is why you never taxi onto a runway in front of an aircraft on short final, and why traffic in the pattern gets priority over departing traffic.

Here is the trap examiners love: when two or more aircraft are approaching to land, the aircraft at the lower altitude has the right of way - not whoever is faster or closer to the runway.

But the regulation adds an immediate warning: a pilot shall not take advantage of this rule to cut in front of another aircraft on final approach, or to overtake it. You cannot dive for the deck, drop below the other aircraft, and claim the runway. The lower-altitude priority protects the aircraft that is committed and closest to the ground with the fewest options. It is not a tool for jumping the line.

How Do These Rules Work in a Real Scenario?

Picture a VFR cross-country at 2,500 feet. You catch a glint of sun off metal at your two o’clock, slightly low - and it is not moving in your windscreen. A target that stays in the same spot on your glass and grows is on a collision course. Motionless and growing is the sight picture that should raise the hair on your neck.

Run 91.113 in your head: traffic on my right, converging, that pilot has the right of way. You ease right, maybe reduce power a touch, and slide behind their tail. Decided. No hesitation, because you knew the answer before you left the ground.

Now change one thing. Same day, but the traffic is at your ten o’clock, converging. Now you are the aircraft on the right with priority - but the other airplane is not turning. Its nose is not moving off yours. See and avoid tells you the rule you are winning does not matter. You turn, you climb, you do something early while you still have sky to use. Being right is never a defense against a mid-air.

Practical Habits to Make This Automatic

The goal of learning 91.113 cold is not so you can recite it on an oral exam. In a converging situation you may have only a few seconds - less time than it takes to recite the rule. The reaction has to be muscle, not memory: traffic on the right, go behind; head-on, break right; overtaking, move right and give room; when in doubt, right.

• Clear your turns. Before you roll into anything, look - especially in the direction you are about to turn. A right-of-way rule does you no good if you turn into someone you never cleared for.
• Keep your eyes outside. Beautiful VFR days are when traffic is thickest and pilots get complacent staring at the tablet. The regulation says see and avoid, not screen and avoid. Your eyes are the primary instrument.
• Use your position reports at non-towered fields. Announcing clearly where you are and what you are doing makes you predictable - the same job the right-of-way rules do.

What the Examiner Is Looking For

On the oral, an examiner wants to know you understand the order: converging, the aircraft on the right; head-on, both turn right; overtaking gives way to the right; the distress–balloon–glider–towing hierarchy; and landing traffic, where lower altitude has priority but cannot be used to cut in.

In the air, they are watching whether you keep your head on a swivel, clear before you turn, and give way smoothly and early even when the rule says you had the right of way. That is the difference between a pilot who knows the regulation and a pilot who is genuinely safe.

Key Takeaways

• Converging traffic: the aircraft on the right has the right of way; give way by passing behind it.
• Head-on: neither aircraft has priority - both turn right and pass left-to-left.
• Overtaking: the aircraft being overtaken has the right of way; the faster aircraft passes to the right, well clear.
• Hierarchy: distress, then balloon, glider, towing/refueling, then ordinary powered aircraft - the less maneuverable you are, the more protection you get.
• See and avoid always wins: having the right of way is priority, never permission to fly into another aircraft.