Which way do I turn if another airplane is coming straight at me?

Both pilots turn right. In a head-on encounter neither aircraft has the right of way, so each alters course to the right and you pass left side to left side.

If traffic is converging from my right, who yields?

You do. When two aircraft converge at about the same altitude, the aircraft to the other's right has the right of way, so traffic off your right wing is protected and you alter right to pass behind it.

Does being on final approach let me land ahead of a slower airplane in front of me?

No. An aircraft on final has the right of way over traffic in the air or on the surface, but you may not use that right of way to cut in front of or overtake an aircraft already on final ahead of you.

What aircraft has the right of way over everything else?

An aircraft in distress. An emergency outranks all other traffic; below that, priority follows maneuverability - balloons, then gliders, then aircraft towing or refueling, then airships, then powered airplanes and helicopters.

Why do almost all the right-of-way rules point to turning right?

To keep things predictable. A single default direction gives you one answer under pressure instead of three, so two pilots who can't talk to each other both turn away and the distance opens up.

FAR Ninety-One One Thirteen, the Right-of-Way Rules, and Who Yields to Whom When Two Airplanes Want the Same Piece of Sky

Under FAR 91.113, the aircraft with the least ability to maneuver has the right of way, and in most airplane-to-airplane encounters the pilot who must yield turns right and passes behind. But the rule’s most important line comes first: regardless of whose right of way it is, no pilot may operate so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard. Right of way is not a shield - it is a shared language that lets two pilots who can’t talk to each other predict what the other will do.

What does “right of way” actually mean?

Having the right of way does not mean you get to plow ahead and let the other pilot sort it out. It means that in that specific geometry, the other aircraft is expected to give way first, while you hold your course and speed so they can predict you and maneuver around you.

The responsibility to avoid a collision belongs to both pilots, always. The rule opens in paragraph (b) with the line every pilot should have memorized: regardless of whose right of way it is, no pilot may operate so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard.

The rules are not about winning. They are about predictability. The reason we all agree on who turns is so two strangers can look at the same situation and both do the thing the other one expects. When both pilots speak the language, nobody has to guess.

Who yields to whom? The right-of-way hierarchy

The regulation ranks aircraft by maneuverability: the aircraft with the least ability to get out of the way has the right of way. From highest priority (everyone yields to it) to lowest:

Aircraft in distress - an emergency has the right of way over all other traffic.
Balloons - can only go up and down; at the mercy of the wind.
Gliders - can turn, but every maneuver costs altitude they can’t get back.
Aircraft towing or refueling - a tow plane with a glider on a 200-foot rope can’t maneuver as an assembly.
Airships (blimps) - powered and steerable, but big, slow, and sluggish.
Airplanes, helicopters, and rotorcraft - powered, steerable, nimble. Us.

The logic is that the most helpless aircraft is protected the most. Rank them by what each one can and cannot do to save itself, and you can rebuild the list from reason every time instead of memorizing it cold.

We’re at the bottom because we have an engine, a rudder, and ailerons - we can turn, climb, and get clear faster than anything above us. With great maneuverability comes the obligation to use it.

The item pilots forget is aircraft towing or refueling, ranked high just below gliders. If you see a tow plane climbing out with a glider on the string, that entire combination has the right of way over your powered airplane. Give it a wide berth.

Converging traffic: who has the right of way?

When two aircraft are converging at approximately the same altitude - crossing paths at an angle, not head-on and not overtaking - the aircraft to the other’s right has the right of way.

In cockpit terms: if converging traffic is off your right side, they have the right of way and you give way. If it’s off your left, you have the right of way - hold your course and speed and watch them like a hawk.

The shorthand that has saved a lot of pilots: traffic on your right, they’ve got the right. It’s the same instinct as a four-way stop or the rules of the road on the water - the vehicle on your right goes first.

How you yield matters as much as that you yield. When giving way, you may not pass over, under, or ahead of the other aircraft unless you are well clear. Do not try to sneak across in front. The expected, predictable move is to alter course to the right and pass behind them - turn toward their tail, not their nose. If both pilots break right, they turn away from each other and the distance opens up. The problem solves itself.

What do you do when traffic is head-on?

When aircraft are approaching each other head-on or approximately so, each pilot shall alter course to the right. Nobody has the right of way here - you both break right.

Because you’re pointed at each other, “your right” and “their right” are opposite directions, so you pass left side to left side and slide safely by. Both turn right, every time.

This is the geometry where you have the least time. Two airplanes closing head-on at 120 knots each are coming together at 240 knots - four nautical miles a minute. From the moment a speck becomes an airplane to the moment it fills your windscreen can be a handful of seconds.

The mistakes are turning toward whichever side “looks open” or freezing to see what the other pilot does. Don’t wait and don’t negotiate silently. Turn right, commit early while you still have room, and make it a clear, obvious turn the other pilot can see.

How do overtaking rules work?

An aircraft being overtaken has the right of way. The overtaking aircraft - the faster one in back - shall alter course to the right to pass well clear.

If you’re catching up to a slower airplane, you give way and go around to the right. The aircraft in front holds its course and speed. Direction, as always: right.

By now the pattern is obvious, and it’s deliberate. Converging, you pass behind and to the right. Head-on, both turn right. Overtaking, pass on the right. The regulation is built around a single default direction so that when your brain is loaded and the adrenaline is up, you have one answer, not three. When in doubt in the United States, the safe direction is right.

Who has the right of way in the traffic pattern?

This is the busiest, lowest, slowest place you fly, and all three geometries collide here. The regulation states that an aircraft on final approach to land, or while landing, has the right of way over other aircraft in flight or operating on the surface. The airplane on final owns the runway. Someone at the hold-short line can’t squeeze out ahead of you; someone on downwind yields to you on final.

But the same sentence adds a warning: you may not use that right of way to cut in front of or overtake an aircraft that is already on final. If two of you are on final and you’re the faster one behind, being on final does not license you to dive in ahead. The one in front, lower and closer to landing, is protected.

The FAA takes this seriously enough to build it into the Airman Certification Standards - the traffic pattern task lists maintaining proper spacing and yielding the right of way correctly. On your checkride, the examiner is watching for exactly this.

For the classic non-towered-field conflict - two airplanes converging to land, or on final for crossing runways - the tiebreaker is: when two aircraft are approaching to land, the one at the lower altitude has the right of way. But you may not use that rule to cut in front of or overtake the other. The low airplane is protected, but the low airplane still can’t force its way in.

Why “see and avoid” matters more than any rule

You can recite the entire pecking order backward and it does you zero good if you never see the traffic. The right-of-way rules only begin once you’ve spotted the other airplane. The skill underneath all of it is see and avoid.

Keep your eyes outside. Scan the windscreen in segments, pausing to actually focus at each one - your eye can only detect a threat while it’s stopped, not while it’s sweeping. Clear before every turn. Use a traffic display if you have one, but don’t fall in love with it: it won’t show you every airplane out there, and it doesn’t replace your own two eyes.

The rules tell you what to do once you see the traffic. Seeing the traffic is your job, and it’s the one nobody can regulate for you.

Key Takeaways

Regardless of whose right of way it is, you may never create a collision hazard - that duty sits above every other rule.
Converging: the aircraft on your right has the right of way; you pass behind and to the right.
Head-on: neither has the right of way - both pilots turn right and pass left-to-left.
Overtaking: the aircraft in front is protected; the faster aircraft moves right to pass well clear.
On final: lowest and closest to landing has the right of way, but nobody may cut in line or overtake - and none of it works unless you see the traffic first.