"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
...
I don't think there's anything in the FARs themselves that would let a
pilot conclude that following ATC instructions is secondary to complying
with the other FARs.

FAR 91.3 grants the final authority for the flight to the pilot. The FAA
is very clear on the point that a controller is not the one flying the
airplane, and that the pilot is expected to make correct decisions even in
the face of ATC instructions that are unreasonable or don't make sense.

Agreed. But pilots must still comply with the FARs (except if there's an
emergency need to do otherwise). And if one FAR says to obey ATC
instructions (except if there's an emergency need to do otherwise), and
another FAR contradicts that FAR, there's nothing in the FARs themselves
that says how the pilot should resolve the contradiction. We just know,
through a combination of folklore and AIM passages, how the FAA expects us
to proceed.

That's not the way analogous situations work when driving a car, for
example; there, police directives do take precedence over the traffic
laws that would otherwise hold

Actually, it is analogous. For example, if you are parked on the side of
the road, and a police officer instructs you to pull out in front of an
oncoming car, you are not required to comply. It would be unsafe, and
would violate your legal requirement to yield to traffic when entering the
roadway.

Yes, and similarly the emergency exception in 91.3b and in 91.123b would
clearly entitle a pilot to refuse to cut in front of another aircraft.

Generally speaking, you are required to comply with a police officer's
instruction only so long as it would not cause you to break any other law.
The police officer does not have the authority to waive laws.

A police office does have the authority to require you to do something which
(although safe) would violate a traffic law in the absence of the officer's
directive. For instance, the police can order you to pull over in a
no-stopping zone; they can even direct you to go through an intersection
when there's a red light.

If we didn't happen to know otherwise via folklore and AIM passages, we'd
reasonably guess that a pilot should analogously comply with an ATC
directive to enter Class B without a clearance. The FARs don't say anything
to the contrary.

--Gary