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

Under FAR 91.113, when two aircraft want the same piece of sky, right of way is assigned by how few options an aircraft has to escape: the less able it is to maneuver, the more protection the rule gives it. For same-category traffic, the airplane on the right has the right of way when converging, both pilots turn right when head-on, and the aircraft being overtaken keeps the right of way. But no matter who has the right of way, every pilot is still responsible for not creating a collision hazard.

What Does FAR 91.113 Actually Say?

The regulation is titled Right-of-Way Rules: Except Water Operations, and it comes from the FAA. Before it names a single winner, it sets a rule that overrides everything else: regardless of who has the right of way, no pilot may operate an aircraft so close to another as to create a collision hazard.

It then adds the part most pilots skip: when one aircraft has the right of way, the other gives way, but the aircraft with the right of way shall maintain its course and speed.

That’s the whole design. Right of way is not a trophy - it’s a job. The pilot who has it has the job of being predictable. The pilot who doesn’t has the job of getting out of the way early and obviously. The rule exists so two pilots who can’t talk to each other can still agree on what’s about to happen without saying a word.

Which Aircraft Has the Right of Way Over Another?

The FAA ranks aircraft roughly by how much control they have over their own situation. The fewer options an aircraft has to save itself, the more right of way it gets.

From the top down:

• Aircraft in distress have the right of way over all other air traffic. Every time, no exceptions. An emergency owns the sky and everyone else works around it.
• Balloons are near the top, because a balloon only climbs and descends - it goes where the wind goes. It has the right of way over all other category aircraft.
• Gliders have the right of way over an airship, airplane, or rotorcraft. A glider out of altitude is out of options: no engine, no go-around.
• Airships (blimps, dirigibles) yield to balloons and gliders but have the right of way over airplanes and rotorcraft.
• Airplanes and rotorcraft sit at the bottom - the powered, maneuverable crowd that can go around and try again, so they yield to everyone above.

There’s one line-jumper people forget: an aircraft towing or refueling other aircraft has the right of way over all other engine-driven aircraft. A banner-tow airplane, a glider on a towrope, or an air-to-air refueling operation can’t maneuver aggressively, so ordinary powered traffic gives way.

The memory trick: the less an aircraft can do to save itself, the more the rules do it for it. Remember the logic and the list falls out of it.

Who Yields When Two Airplanes Converge?

Same category, same altitude, not head-on, one closing in from the side. The aircraft to the other’s right has the right of way.

If traffic is off your right (say, your two o’clock) on a converging path, that airplane has the right of way and you yield. If traffic is off your left (your ten o’clock), you’re on his right, so you have the right of way - hold course and speed and keep your eyes locked on him in case he doesn’t solve it.

The hook: it’s a four-way stop. The vehicle on your right goes first. Same instinct you already use driving.

How to give way: alter course to the right and pass behind the other airplane. You steer toward the space that’s opening up behind him, not the space that’s closing in front.

What Do You Do in a Head-On Situation?

This is the dangerous one - two airplanes at 120 knots each is 240 knots of closure, and the gap disappears fast. Head-on, nobody has the right of way. The rule: each pilot shall alter course to the right.

Both of you break to your own right and pass left side to left side, exactly like two cars meeting on a road where traffic drives on the right.

The trap is the pilot who turns left because it looks like the shorter way around. If you turn left while the other pilot correctly turns right, you’ve just steered toward each other. Head-on, always turn right. Burn that in.

Who Has the Right of Way When Overtaking?

If you’re the faster airplane coming up from behind - say, a slick retractable running down a trainer - the aircraft being overtaken has the right of way. The pilot in front probably can’t even see you; you’re in his blind spot.

The rule puts the entire burden on you: alter course to the right and pass well clear. Notice the pattern - nearly everything in this reg pushes you right. Under pressure you want one instinct, not a decision tree: when in doubt, ease it to the right.

Who Has the Right of Way on Final Approach and Landing?

Aircraft on final approach to land, or while landing, have the right of way over other aircraft in flight or operating on the surface. If someone is on final, you don’t taxi onto the runway in front of them and you don’t turn base to cut them off.

When two or more aircraft are approaching for the purpose of landing, the aircraft at the lower altitude has the right of way. But the reg immediately closes the obvious cheat: a pilot shall not take advantage of this rule to cut in front of, or to overtake, an aircraft on final approach to land.

So you can’t dive for the deck to steal position. Being lower earns you the right of way honestly - it does not let you shove your nose down to get under a stabilized aircraft and then claim it.

A real scenario: you’re on a two-mile final at a nontowered field, and someone higher and behind you announces turning base. Technically you’re lower and on final, so you have the right of way - hold your approach, make your calls, stay predictable. But if that traffic is a faster twin and the geometry gets ugly, the safe move is to say on the radio, “I’ll extend, you go ahead, I’ll follow you in.” You can be right and dead, or flexible and alive. The rule makes people predictable; when predictability breaks down, talk - state your intentions.

How Are Right-of-Way Rules Tested on the Checkride?

The right-of-way rules live in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) under the regulations and airspace tasks. The examiner expects the three scenarios - converging (traffic on the right has it; turn right and pass behind), head-on (both turn right), and overtaking (the aircraft in front has it; you move right to pass) - plus the category hierarchy and the landing rules.

But recitation isn’t the point. The examiner is checking whether you understand that having the right of way never relieves you of the responsibility to see and avoid. After you answer the geometry, add the sentence that proves you get it: “And regardless of who has the right of way, I’m responsible for not creating a collision hazard, so I’d keep that traffic in sight the whole time.” That line is worth more than the whole list, because it says you’ll be safe on an ordinary Tuesday when no examiner is watching.

Why This Matters

Midair collisions are rare, but when they happen they overwhelmingly occur in good weather, close to airports, in daylight, between two airworthy airplanes flown by two competent pilots who simply never had a shared plan for the same piece of sky. That is the exact situation 91.113 was written to solve.

Carry this: the airplane with the fewest options gets the right of way. Traffic on your right, you give way - turn right and pass behind. Head-on, everybody turns right. Overtaking, you move right and give room. Landing, the lower airplane has it, but you never dive in to steal it. Over the top of all of it, your only real job is to not hit anyone.

Key Takeaways

• FAR 91.113 ranks right of way by maneuverability - distress > balloon > glider > airship > airplane/rotorcraft - with towing/refueling aircraft ranking above ordinary engine-driven traffic.
• Converging: the aircraft on the right has the right of way; give way by turning right and passing behind.
• Head-on: nobody has the right of way - both pilots turn right and pass left-to-left.
• Overtaking: the aircraft being overtaken has the right of way; the overtaking aircraft moves right to pass well clear.
• Landing: aircraft on final and the lower aircraft have the right of way, but you may not dive down to cut in or overtake - and the right of way never cancels your duty to see and avoid.