Right of Way

The concept of right of way is just the same in the air as it is on land and at sea. To prevent collisions, a set of rules for each of these is designed to tell the people in the driver's seat what his rights are and when he has to yield the right of way to someone else. For example, the rules for driving at a 4-way stop say the first driver there has the right way. In the event of a tie at the intersection, the tie breaker rule says the driver who has the other on his right must yield. There are similar sets of rules for the water. Two vessels approaching each other both have responsibilities and rights under the rules of the sea.

In fact, there are more similarities with the sea than the road for the airways we fly on. For example, not only are rules for converging traffic situations determined, but there are rules on the sea for powered craft versus craft under sail. Given that there are different types of aircraft powerplants (with the aircraft of concern not having any powerplants), this analogy is much closer. See the next section for more on this.

The general rules for right of way include the basics, and they refer to such things as, "No person shall conduct or attempt to conduct a take-off or landing in an aircraft until there is no apparent risk of collision with any aircraft, person, vessel, vehicle or structure in the take-off or landing path." Common sense, no? If trying to take-off means you're going hit something, don't do it. Other rules follow in the same footsteps, with the inclusion of the standard catch-all, the "notwithstanding" clause. This one says two main things:

Even if you have the right of way, you must take action to avoid a collision if necessary, and
If you have the right of way but the other aircraft is in, or appears to be in, a state of emergency, give way to the other aircraft.

There are others, but they include aircraft manoeuvering on water, among other things, and I don't intend to get into those particular ones in this week's topic.

As mentioned before, I'll talk now about the rules regarding aircraft under power and those who aren't. In fact, there are varying types of aircraft without power, and each one of these has a different level of priority in the list. Aircraft under power (remember, we're not talking about exceptional circumstances here -- this is meant for aircraft under power that are operating normally) are at the bottom, since they would have the ability to turn, climb or descend at will, thus allowing them to reposition if necessary. The next class that is considered is the airship, or blimp as they are known. They, too, have at least a certain amount of manoeuverability, and they rank just above other forms of powered flight. Following them are gliders, which have the ability to manoeuver as required, but no power to guarantee the ability to reposition without the possibility of falling short of where they need to be. Lastly, we have hot air balloons out there, and they're limited to moving around with wind currents, so they might have a hard time getting out of anybody's way. Also, I'll bet at least some of you have considered the ability of aircraft towing banners or gliders or helicopters with a load slung under them on a cable. Their ability to move out of the way is restricted by the loads.

Because of the characteristics mentioned above, the following list of priority has been established in subsection 2 of CARS 602.19, and it reads as follows:

When two aircraft are converging at approximately the same altitude, the pilot-in-command of the aircraft that has the other on its right shall give way, except as follows:

a power-driven, heavier-than-air aircraft shall give way to airships, gliders and balloons;

an airship shall give way to gliders and balloons;

glider shall give way to balloons; and

a power-driven aircraft shall give way to aircraft that are seen to be towing gliders or other objects or carrying a slung load.

For this section, I'll forgo the parts regarding water aerodromes and balloon vs. balloon. This part of the topic will set up the other subsections by giving the basic responsibilities of the pilot-in-command of an aircraft when he approaches other traffic. The basics are pretty basic, too. The regulation is deliberately vague to allow the pilots the utmost flexibility to use good judgment and planning, also known as airmanship, to avoid becoming a regulatory issue, a statistic, or both. A pilot is not allowed to fly over or under another aircraft when manoeuvering to give him the right of way. Nor is he allowed to cross ahead of the other aircraft unless passing at such a distance that he will not create a risk of collision. Basically, don't do anything stupid, and you're alright. After all, yielding the right of way does mean that you're staying out of his way, right?

The first thought about the need for right of way legislation is, of course, two aircraft head-on (or nearly so) at approximately the same altitude. If there is a chance that something really noisy could happen like, say, a collision, both pilots shall alter course to the right. It doesn't say one should, or both may, it says both shall. No choice, according to this rule. A funny story about this happened to me. While on a solo training flight just outside the CZ where I trained, I called inbound at 1,500 from the west. Shortly after this, I heard another aircraft clearing the zone to the west at 1,500. "Curious," I thought. "Perhaps I should look for this guy." A few seconds later, I spotted the Cessna 150 coming at me, and he was really close, too. I watched him closely to determine his track, and realized that, yes, he was heading right for me. While watching him, I decided to turn, being somewhat aware of the regulations regarding this sort of situation. I didn't take my eyes of him, and at the very same instant, he began to roll into a turn. Both of us turned left. We passed with very little room (more than enough to ensure no risk of collision). If either one of us had done what we were supposed to do, it most certainly would have been a lot closer, maybe even deadly. I hope they learned the same lesson I did that day.

The basic thing about an overtake situation is to remember that the aircraft being overtaken as the right of way. This means that there is no, "Get outta my way!" going to happen, unless you're experiencing an emergency. When overtaking another aircraft, regardless of whether you or he are climbing, descending or in level flight, you have to give way to the one you're overtaking. You must overtake the aircraft on the right hand side, and no subsequent change in relative position between you and the guy you're passing will absolve you of your responsibility to stay out of his way by a reasonable distance. You must keep far enough to his right side until you're well clear and far enough ahead of the guy you're passing. Consider this: Wake turbulence. If you're in a Dash 8 overtaking a Navajo, technically you're not allowed to slide by him and then jump in front as soon as your tail clears his nose. You pose a real threat to the aircraft behind you if you do, and this violates the rule regarding an overtake. This should come down to basic airmanship, too, even if the rule didn't cover it.

This one is there to prevent any games being played, really. The rule gives the right of way to an aircraft landing or approaching to land at an airport over anyone who is on the ground. If you're taxiing out for departure, and someone is on final, he has the right of way. If there is any chance that he will have to go around because of your entry onto his landing surface, whether you desire a take-off or if you're just crossing the runway, you must hold short and let the other guy land. This is the old, "aircraft in the air have priority over aircraft on the ground," and makes perfect sense, as do most of the regs regarding right of way.

Some may believe this could be lumped in with Airport Operations just talked about. I won't argue with you. But I did write the topic, and I chose to put it here. So there.

The reason I kept this separate is because it doesn't directly involve the airport or the actual landing, but involves aircraft on approach at the same time. When you think of this one, it also makes some sense. CARS say that an aircraft approaching an aerodrome for the purpose of landing who encounters another aircraft shall give way to any aircraft who is also on his way in, but is at a lower altitude. If that's you, great. If not, it may require you to turn away from the airport, to extend downwind a bit, or whatever is reasonably required. Additionally, the guy who has the right of way has a responsibility to perform with respect to the other aircraft. He who is at a lower altitude shall not cut in front of the higher guy who is in the final stages of an approach to landing. An example would be someone who is established on final, but is still higher, and someone who is in the downwind leg. The lower guy in the downwind leg has no right to jump in and cut the other guy off, forcing him to go around. Once again, this really comes down to airmanship, but the rule was made for a reason: Not all pilots are good airmen (this term includes women, just in case you think I'm being sexist by using this word). If you're on the downwind, it's easier for you to adjust your circuit pattern for someone on final than it is for someone on final to adjust his approach for you on the downwind. On downwind, you can do a 360°, you can widen your pattern, or you can extend your downwind and turn base leg behind him. His only options are a 360° turn or S-turns, neither of which are great from the perspective of a pilot who is established on a nice descent for final approach.

There you have it. A simple run down of (most of) the regulations in Canada regarding right of way in an airplane, or an aeroplane as CARS says it. Any questions raised by this week's topic? Did I leave something out? Do you have a story to relate? I'd love to hear any of them. Send them along via e-mail to moxner@nbnet.nb.ca. Thanks once again to all those who take the time to read my rants, and especially to those who take the time to write!