4.1 Right-of-Way, Minimum Safe Altitudes, and Speed Limits

The Private Pilot Airplane knowledge test writes 14 CFR 91.113, 91.117, and 91.119 as if they were three different questions, but they are one operating problem: keep the airplane from hitting another airplane, a person on the surface, or a speed limit painted into the airspace. Learn the words of the rule, not a hangar mnemonic that swaps left for right or 1,000 feet for 2,000 feet.

See and avoid comes first — 91.113(b)

When weather conditions permit, every person operating an aircraft — VFR or IFR — must maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft. When another aircraft has the right-of-way, you give way and may not pass over, under, or ahead of it unless well clear. Having the right-of-way is not a license to hold heading into a midair. 91.113(a) also takes itself off the water: water operations use 91.115, not this section.

Distress, then category, then geometry

Distress — 91.113(c). An aircraft in distress has the right-of-way over all other air traffic. A Cessna on a cross-country does not “keep the right-of-way” against a glider that is on fire. Distress beats the entire rest of the section.

Converging, same category — 91.113(d). When aircraft of the same category are converging at approximately the same altitude (except head-on, or nearly so), the aircraft to the other's right has the right-of-way. Two airplanes meeting at a 90-degree angle are the classic PAR picture: if the other airplane is on your right, you yield. Airplane versus helicopter is not on the category ladder below; treat them as equals and apply this same-side rule.

Converging, different categories. If the aircraft are of different categories, 91.113(d) ranks them:

1. A balloon has the right-of-way over any other category of aircraft.
2. A glider has the right-of-way over powered aircraft.
3. An airship has the right-of-way over all other powered aircraft, except an aircraft towing or refueling other aircraft.
4. An aircraft towing or refueling other aircraft has the right-of-way over all other powered aircraft.

The useful stack for a PAR airplane is balloon, then glider, then airship, then airplane or rotorcraft — unless the powered airplane is towing or refueling, in which case that airplane outranks other powered aircraft, including an airship. A glider still outranks a tow plane that is not itself a glider. The refueler has right-of-way over the aircraft being refueled and over other powered traffic; do not invert that pair.

Head-on — 91.113(e). When aircraft approach each other head-on, or nearly so, each pilot of each aircraft shall alter course to the right. Category does not matter. A glider and an airplane meeting nose-to-nose both turn right.

Overtaking — 91.113(f). Each aircraft being overtaken has the right-of-way. The overtaking pilot shall alter course to the right to pass well clear. The PAR trap is “pass on the left like a car.” Do not. Pass on the right.

Landing — 91.113(g). Aircraft on final approach to land or while landing have the right-of-way over other aircraft in flight or operating on the surface, except that they shall not take advantage of this rule to force an aircraft off the runway that has already landed and is trying to make way. When two or more aircraft are approaching an airport to land, the aircraft at the lower altitude has the right-of-way, but it shall not take advantage of this rule to cut in front of another aircraft that is on final, or to overtake that aircraft. Diving under a high final to “become the lower airplane” is the fact pattern the last clause exists to fail.

Minimum safe altitudes — 91.119

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes. The takeoff-and-landing exception is real, but it is not a sightseeing exception. A low approach over a packed beach is not “necessary for landing.”

Anywhere — 91.119(a). An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface. This floor applies over cities, farms, and water. A legal 1,000-foot congested-area altitude is still illegal if a forced landing from that altitude would drop the airplane into a stadium.

Over congested areas — 91.119(b). Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open-air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. Two numbers: 1,000 up, 2,000 out. A 200-foot water tower 1,500 feet to the side of your track raises the floor to 1,200 MSL above that tower's elevation, not 1,000 AGL over the street.

Over other than congested areas — 91.119(c). An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. Over empty water or desert you may be below 500 AGL, but you may not buzz a boat, a beach walker, a pickup, or a fishing shack. “500 feet from” is a sphere around the object, not a 500-AGL floor.

Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft — 91.119(d). If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface, a helicopter may operate below the (b) and (c) minimums if it complies with any routes or altitudes the FAA has prescribed for helicopters. A powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may operate below the (c) minimums. That exception is not an airplane exception. A PAR airplane answer that says “500 feet does not apply if I am careful” is wrong.

Aircraft speed — 91.117

These limits are indicated airspeed, not groundspeed and not Mach.

Below 10,000 feet MSL — 91.117(a). Unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator, no person may operate an aircraft below 10,000 feet MSL at more than 250 knots indicated (288 mph). This is the nationwide cap under 10,000, including inside Class B.

Class C or D primary-airport ring — 91.117(b). Unless otherwise authorized or required by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft at or below 2,500 feet above the surface within 4 nautical miles of the primary airport of a Class C or Class D airspace area at more than 200 knots indicated (230 mph). Paragraph (b) does not apply to operations inside a Class B airspace area; those operations comply with paragraph (a) — 250 KIAS — not 200. A jet in the Class B surface area at 3,000 MSL is under the 250 cap, not the 200 cap.

Under Class B, or a VFR corridor through Class B — 91.117(c). No person may operate an aircraft in the airspace underlying a Class B airspace area designated for an airport, or in a VFR corridor designated through such a Class B area, at more than 200 knots indicated (230 mph). The 200-knot rule here has no “unless ATC says otherwise” clause in the text of (c). The place is under the shelf or in the corridor, not merely near the Class B airport.

Minimum safe speed — 91.117(d). If the minimum safe airspeed for a particular operation is greater than the maximum speed in this section, the aircraft may be operated at that minimum speed. That is a performance-safety valve, not a habit for a 172.

Reckless operation — 91.13, briefly

91.13(a) says no person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another. 91.13(b) applies the same idea to surface operations on an airport used for air commerce, even when the airplane is not “navigating.” A 91.119-legal 500-foot pass that still sprays a farmhouse with prop wash can be 91.13. A legal 200-knot arrival that still taxis through a crowd is 91.13. On the test, if the stem already gives a specific 91.113 / 91.117 / 91.119 number, answer with that number. If the stem is “endanger life or property” with no altitude or speed cited, 91.13 is the rule they want.