If on a night flight, the pilot of aircraft A observes only the green navigation light of aircraft B and they are converging, which aircraft has the right of way?

When determining which aircraft has the right of way during a night flight, it’s essential to understand how navigation lights indicate the relative positions of the aircraft. Aircraft have different colored navigation lights; typically, the right side (starboard) light is green, and the left side (port) light is red.

If the pilot of aircraft A sees only the green light of aircraft B, it means that aircraft B is positioned to the right of aircraft A. Under international regulations (specifically the International Air Traffic Organization’s rules), when two aircraft are on a collision course and one pilot sees the green light, that pilot is facing the other aircraft’s starboard side, therefore aircraft B has the right of way.

In this situation, since aircraft A is seeing the green light from aircraft B, it indicates that aircraft A needs to give way to aircraft B, as it is the one that must avoid a collision. This is because the rules of the air state that if one aircraft sees the navigation light of another indicating that the other is on its right, then the one seeing the light must yield.

Therefore, the assertion that aircraft A has the right of way simply because it is to the right of aircraft B is incorrect. The correct understanding of right of