On 2007-05-10 09:29:04 -0700, "Allen" said:


Landing. Aircraft while 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 and aircraft off the runway surface which has already landed...

Which does nothing to define what "final approach" is. If you are aligned
with the runway and intending to land does final begin 5 miles from the
threshold? 10 miles? 15 miles? 50 miles?

Well, in the case linked, in each incident the pilot of the Cessna 150
turned inside and cut in front of aircraft that were lower than him and
on final approach. At least one aircraft appears to have been in the
pattern that was lower than him but not on final was considered by the
FAA to be on "final approach" and lower. This behavior by the Cessna
pilot occurred repeatedly and on more than one flight.

So many planes can be on "final approach" but the lower aircraft has
right of way. However, you cannot deliberately try to descend lower
than another plane simply to position yourself in front of him. In the
case of the Cessna 150 pilot, he nearly hit a plane that had just
landed as well as one that was on the runway ready to take off. While
landing aircraft normally have right of way over departing aircraft,
the FAA ruled that the Cessna pilot was operating dangerously and
recklessly and that he cannot claim to have right of way if he is
flying recklessly.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor