FAR Ninety-One Point One Thirteen, the Right of Way Hierarchy, and the Converging Aircraft Scenario Examiners Use to Catch Students Off Guard

FAR 91.113 - the right of way regulation - establishes a ranked hierarchy of aircraft priority based on maneuverability. Understanding the logic behind that hierarchy, not just the order, is what separates pilots who can answer the oral exam question from pilots who can handle the real encounter in the air.

Why Does the Right of Way Hierarchy Exist?

The hierarchy in FAR 91.113 is built on a single principle: the aircraft least capable of maneuvering receives the most protection. When a conflict occurs, the aircraft with the fewest options - the one that physically cannot execute a go-around, cannot steer laterally, cannot accelerate away - needs the right of way most.

Understanding this logic means you can reason through any scenario, including ones you’ve never seen before. The list stops being something to memorize and becomes something to understand.

What Is the Complete Right of Way Hierarchy?

From highest priority to lowest:

1. Aircraft in distress - right of way over every other aircraft, without exception. An emergency-declared aircraft has constrained options; every other pilot maneuvers.
2. Balloons - a balloon pilot has no meaningful lateral control. They manage altitude; the wind determines horizontal track. Maximum constraint means maximum priority.
3. Gliders - no engine means no go-around. If a glider runs out of altitude trying to give way, there is no throttle to push. Gliders rank above all powered aircraft.
4. Airships - slow, with a turning radius that dwarfs most light aircraft, but more maneuverable than a glider. The hierarchy reflects that middle position.
5. Aircraft towing or refueling another aircraft - a tow plane dragging a banner or a glider on a rope cannot execute a hard bank. The attached load constrains every maneuver.
6. Engine-powered aircraft - at the bottom. The most maneuverable, the most capable of giving way.

How Do the Four Encounter Scenarios Work?

The hierarchy applies across all traffic situations. But when two aircraft are in the same category, these four scenario rules determine who yields.

Converging

Two aircraft approaching each other at approximately the same altitude - not head-on, not overtaking. Both are the same category. The aircraft on the right has the right of way. The other yields by turning right.

The geometry matters here: when both aircraft on a converging course turn right, they pass behind each other. The conflict resolves for both simultaneously. Turning left moves you toward the other aircraft. The right-turn rule is not convention - it is geometrically correct.

Head-On

Two aircraft approaching each other directly. Both must yield to the right. Both turn right.

Determining whether an encounter is head-on or converging requires a judgment call. If the other aircraft moves laterally across your windshield, it is probably converging. If it sits nearly stationary in your field of view and grows larger, it is head-on or close to it. When in doubt, bear right - both rules default to the same action.

Overtaking

You are faster, closing on an aircraft from behind - specifically, from less than 30 degrees off its tail. The aircraft being overtaken has the right of way. You pass to the right. The overtaking aircraft bears full responsibility for the pass.

The slower aircraft ahead may not even know you are there. They are under no obligation to maneuver. Once you begin the pass and pull alongside, you maintain separation until well clear ahead - not just past the nose of the slower aircraft.

Landing

When multiple aircraft are approaching to land at the same airport, the lower aircraft has the right of way. But the lower aircraft cannot use that priority to cut in front of an aircraft already established on final.

At towered airports, ATC sequences traffic and the controller handles conflicts. At uncontrolled airports, this provision is active and consequential. An aircraft declaring an emergency supersedes the entire landing sequence - that aircraft gets the runway, and everyone else clears.

How Does the Hierarchy Override the Scenario Rules?

The converging, head-on, overtaking, and landing rules apply between aircraft of the same category. When aircraft of different categories meet, the hierarchy decides - and the scenario rules become irrelevant.

Consider this example: you are cruising at 5,500 feet MSL, VFR, on a cross-country. A glider is ahead at roughly the same altitude on a converging course. Who yields?

You do. The glider outranks your powered aircraft in the hierarchy. The converging rule - which would call for the aircraft on the right to yield - does not apply here. The glider wins, period. You maneuver. The glider pilot owes you nothing.

This is exactly where students get tripped up. They apply the converging rule before the hierarchy rule. The hierarchy always comes first.

How Do You Work Through a Layered Oral Exam Scenario?

Examiners use layered scenarios because real traffic conflicts often invoke more than one provision simultaneously. Scenario: you are on a two-mile final, gear down, stabilized, and a glider is slightly lower and drifting toward your extended centerline. Both of you are heading for the same runway.

Two separate provisions are active:

• Hierarchy rule: the glider outranks your powered aircraft.
• Landing priority rule: the lower aircraft on final has right of way. The glider is lower.

Both provisions point the same direction. You go around. You extend your pattern. You let the glider complete its approach.

The Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for the private pilot certificate want more than the correct answer. They want to see whether you can walk through the structure - identify which rules are active, recognize when they overlap, and arrive at a reasoned decision. Explaining why the glider has priority demonstrates deeper understanding than reciting the list.

Does Bearing Right Actually Resolve the Conflict?

A common source of confusion: if both converging aircraft turn right, doesn’t that bring them toward each other?

No. Draw it out on paper.

You are heading north. Another aircraft is heading west, crossing from your left to your right. You bear right - now heading northeast. The other aircraft continues heading west. The geometry separates you. The conflict resolves.

“Bear right” means turning away from your original course toward the right, not turning toward the other aircraft. In nearly all converging configurations, this opens separation between both aircraft simultaneously.

Does an ATC Clearance Replace the Right of Way Rules?

FAR 91.113 specifies that right of way provisions do not apply when an aircraft is flown in accordance with an ATC clearance in controlled airspace. When both aircraft are following ATC instructions, the controller is responsible for separation.

But the regulation explicitly states this does not relieve the pilot in command of the responsibility to see and avoid other aircraft.

See and avoid is the foundation of VFR flight. Right of way rules define the resolution once you recognize a conflict. Your eyes are the detection mechanism. Neither substitutes for the other.

Why Do These Rules Matter When ATC Exists?

There are thousands of airports in the United States without a control tower. Radar coverage in many airspace classes is limited or nonexistent. Radio failures happen. Aircraft operate on frequencies they are not monitoring. Blind spots exist in every cockpit.

The right of way rules are not a backup to ATC. They are the foundation that exists whether ATC is present or not. Understanding them deeply - not just well enough to pass the written - is part of being a safe pilot.

Key Takeaways

• The hierarchy ranks aircraft by maneuverability: distress, balloon, glider, airship, towing/refueling aircraft, engine-powered aircraft - from most to least protected.
• Hierarchy beats scenario rules: when two aircraft of different categories meet, the higher-ranked aircraft has right of way regardless of the converging, head-on, or overtaking geometry.
• When in doubt, turn right: both the converging and head-on rules default to a right turn, and the geometry resolves the conflict for both aircraft simultaneously.
• The overtaking aircraft owns the pass: the slower aircraft ahead has right of way and no obligation to maneuver; the overtaking pilot bears full responsibility until well clear ahead.
• See and avoid never goes away: ATC clearances shift separation responsibility to the controller, but the pilot’s obligation to look and avoid remains in every phase of flight.