Learning hub · Air Law · Lesson 1
Rules of the air: right of way, flight rules and airspace
Air law looks like a pile of rules to remember, but most of the rules of the air are the same in every country. They come from one international document, and they exist so that two aeroplanes never try to occupy the same piece of sky.
About 13 minutes, plus the quiz. Part of Air Law.
1. Where the rules come from
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), set up by the Chicago Convention of 1944, publishes standards in a series of documents called Annexes. Annex 2, Rules of the Air, covers how aircraft behave in flight and on the ground: right of way, flight rules, signals and interception. Each state then writes these standards into its own law. In Europe the common rules are called SERA (the Standardised European Rules of the Air, in Regulation (EU) No 923/2012), and they apply in Romania, with some national differences published in the AIP.
The practical point is this. The principles in this lesson are the same wherever you fly, but the exact numbers, the local procedures and the extra rules are national. For Romania, the place to look is the national Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), together with your school’s operations manual. Where this lesson says “check the AIP”, it means it.
One rule sits above all the others. The pilot in command is responsible for avoiding collisions, whatever the rules say about right of way and whatever air traffic control has told you. Right of way tells you who should move. It never lets you stop looking.
2. Right of way
These are the four situations you must know. In every one, the aircraft that gives way must keep well clear and must not cross in front of the other aircraft unless it passes with a safe margin.
| Situation | Who gives way | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Converging at about the same level | The aircraft that has the other on its right | Passes behind or turns away, and does not cross ahead. The one with the other on its left has right of way. |
| Head-on, or nearly so | Both | Each alters course to the right. |
| Overtaking | The aircraft that is overtaking | Alters course to the right and stays clear until the other is passed and well clear. The aircraft being overtaken has right of way. |
| Landing | Aircraft in the air or on the ground | Give way to an aircraft that is landing or in the final stages of an approach to land. |
An overtaking aircraft is one that approaches another from behind, at an angle of less than 70° to the straight-back direction on either side. That is the part of the sky the pilot being overtaken cannot easily see, which is why the burden is on the faster aircraft.
There are also rules about the kind of aircraft. A power-driven aeroplane gives way to airships, gliders and balloons, and to aircraft that are towing something. Gliders give way to balloons. The idea is that the less manoeuvrable aircraft keeps its course.
Two further landing rules are easy to forget. When two aeroplanes are approaching to land at the same aerodrome, the one at the higher level gives way to the one at the lower level, but the lower one must not use that to cut in front of the other or to overtake it. And an aircraft that knows another is compelled to land, because of an emergency, gives way to it. On the manoeuvring area, aircraft give way to those taking off or about to take off.
3. Flight rules: VFR and IFR
Every flight is made under one of two sets of rules.
- Visual flight rules (VFR) mean you navigate and avoid obstacles and traffic by looking outside. They are only allowed when the weather is good enough to do that. The weather conditions are called visual meteorological conditions (VMC).
- Instrument flight rules (IFR) let you fly in cloud and poor visibility, using instruments, but they bring extra requirements: a qualified pilot, a suitably equipped aircraft, a flight plan and clearances from air traffic control (ATC).
VMC is defined by three things together: the flight visibility you have, your distance from cloud (both horizontal and vertical), and in some airspace a minimum cloud ceiling or height above the ground. The minimum values depend on the class of airspace and the altitude. This lesson does not quote numbers, because a wrong number here is dangerous. Look them up in the table in SERA and in the Romanian AIP, and learn them from there.
SERA also provides for a special VFR clearance, which lets you fly in a control zone in weather below the normal VFR minima, with permission from ATC and with conditions. Where and when it is available is shown in the AIP, so check whether it applies to you.
Think of VFR as a promise to keep the weather in sight. If the weather closes in and you cannot hold that promise, you change plans early, which is a decision you take on the ground or on the way, not in cloud.
4. Airspace classes
ICAO divides airspace into classes A to G. The class tells you which flights are allowed, whether you need a clearance and a radio, and what service ATC gives you. The essence, in plain words:
| Class | Who may fly | In short |
|---|---|---|
| A | IFR only | All aircraft separated by ATC. VFR is not permitted. |
| B | IFR and VFR | All aircraft separated by ATC. (Not used in every state.) |
| C | IFR and VFR | Clearance needed. IFR aircraft are separated from all others. VFR aircraft are separated from IFR and given traffic information on other VFR aircraft. |
| D | IFR and VFR | Clearance needed. IFR aircraft are separated from other IFR and get traffic information on VFR. VFR aircraft get traffic information on all others. |
| E | IFR and VFR | IFR needs a clearance and is separated from other IFR. VFR needs no clearance. Traffic information is given as far as practicable. |
| F | IFR and VFR | Advisory service for IFR, information service on request. (Used in only some states.) |
| G | IFR and VFR | Uncontrolled. Flight information service on request. You see and avoid. |
Which classes are actually used, where they start and end, and what radio or transponder you must carry in each one are all national and are shown in the AIP and on the chart. Classes A to E are controlled airspace. In classes F and G, ATC does not separate traffic, so your eyes are the safety system.
5. Licence, medical, signals and the unexpected
A licence says what you are qualified to do. It lists the privileges of your licence type and the ratings added to it, such as the class or type of aircraft, night flying or instrument flying. A medical certificate says you are fit to use those privileges. Both must be valid, and you carry them when you fly as pilot in command. Their validity periods, the classes of medical and the requirements for renewal are set by the national authority or, in Europe, by EASA rules (Part-FCL for licences and Part-MED for medical certificates). For Romania, see the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority (AACR) and your school.
A licence is not permission to fly any aircraft anywhere. Your privileges are limited to your ratings, and in practice also to the aircraft you are current on and the conditions you are trained for.
Light signals. If your radio fails, a control tower can still talk to you with a light gun. The standard meanings for an aircraft in flight are:
| Signal | In flight |
|---|---|
| Steady green | Cleared to land |
| Flashing green | Return for landing (then wait for a steady green) |
| Steady red | Give way to other aircraft and continue circling |
| Flashing red | Aerodrome unsafe, do not land |
| Flashing white | Land at this aerodrome and proceed to the apron |
On the ground, steady green means cleared for take-off, steady red means stop, flashing red means move clear of the landing area, and flashing green means cleared to taxi.
Interception. If a military aircraft intercepts you, follow its instructions, try to call on the emergency frequency 121.5 MHz, and set the transponder to 7700 unless told otherwise. The visual signals are in Annex 2, and you should have read them before you ever need them.
This lesson is for training and explains principles. For a real flight, the rules that bind you are the current national regulations and the Romanian AIP, plus the flight manual and your operator’s procedures. Where this lesson and the official text differ, the official text is right.
6. Try it yourself
Work each one out on paper first, then open the answer to compare. The numbers are invented.
- You are flying at 3,000 ft on a heading of 360°. Another aeroplane at the same level is converging from your right, at your 2 o’clock. A second aeroplane approaches head-on at the same level. What do you do in each case? Who is responsible for avoiding a collision?
Show the answer
Converging: the aircraft that has the other on its right gives way. The other aeroplane is on your right, so you give way: pass behind it or turn away, and do not cross ahead of it unless you pass with a safe margin.
Head-on, or nearly so: both aircraft alter course to the right.
In both cases the pilot in command is responsible for avoiding collisions, whatever the rules say about right of way. Right of way tells you who should move. It never lets you stop looking.
- Aeroplane Y flies straight and level. Aeroplane X approaches Y from a direction 50° off Y’s tail. Aeroplane Z approaches from 80° off Y’s tail. Which of them is overtaking? Which way does an overtaking aeroplane turn? Who has right of way? In a separate encounter, a power-driven aeroplane and a glider converge. Who gives way?
Show the answer
An overtaking aircraft approaches from behind at an angle of less than 70° to the straight-back direction. X (50°) is overtaking. Z (80°) is not overtaking, so it is a normal converging case, and whichever of Y and Z has the other on its right gives way.
The overtaking aeroplane alters course to the right and stays clear until the other is well passed. The aircraft being overtaken (Y) has right of way.
A power-driven aeroplane gives way to gliders, airships and balloons, and to aircraft that are towing something, so in the second encounter the power-driven aeroplane gives way to the glider.
- Two aeroplanes, A at 800 ft and B at 500 ft, are both on final approach to the same aerodrome. Who gives way? And later, a pilot with radio failure sees a light signal from the tower: first a steady red, and then a flashing red. What does each mean?
Show the answer
When two aeroplanes approach to land, the one at the higher level (A) gives way to the one at the lower level (B). But B must not use that to cut in front of A or to overtake A.
Steady red in flight means give way to other aircraft and continue circling. Flashing red means the aerodrome is unsafe, do not land.
For comparison: steady green is cleared to land, flashing green is return for landing (then wait for a steady green), and flashing white is land at this aerodrome and proceed to the apron. Check the AIP for the details that apply in the country where you fly.
7. Watch
A clear walk-through of right of way for converging, head-on, overtaking and landing aircraft. It is made for the US, but these rules match the ICAO principles. Note that the airspace and weather details it gives are American and differ from Europe.
Open on YouTube if the player does not load. Not made by VectorEFB; check what you learn against your flying school’s material and your instructor.
More to watch
A very short animation from the Australian regulator that shows the right-of-way rules in practice. This video is Australian, so wording and some rules differ from European (ICAO/EASA) practice, but the right-of-way principles come from the same ICAO source.
Open on YouTube if the player does not load. Not made by VectorEFB.
8. Check yourself
Five original practice questions. Answer them, press Check answers and read each explanation.
Next: VFR radio phraseology. Back to the learning hub.