Air Law
Core concepts
Air law questions test your knowledge of the regulatory framework that governs flight: ICAO Annexes and how they are given legal force through national regulations, aircraft nationality and registration marks, airworthiness certificates, crew licensing and privileges, rules of the air (right-of-way, cruising levels, lights), and the documents that must be carried on board. Know the difference between standards (binding) and recommended practices (aspirational), and understand that the State of Registry and State of the Operator have distinct responsibilities.
Traps to watch
Questions often exploit the gap between ICAO provisions and national law: ICAO does not itself license pilots; the contracting State does. Another classic trap is confusing the certificate of registration (ownership/nationality) with the certificate of airworthiness (fitness to fly) and the noise certificate. Right-of-way questions reward precise recall: the lower aircraft has right of way when converging at the same level (except when one is constrained to the ground), and an aircraft in distress has priority over all others.
Worked example
Two aircraft approach head-on. Rule: both alter heading to the right. Converging at the same altitude, the aircraft on the right has right of way, so the left-hand aircraft gives way. Memorise the phrase: "right of way = the one on the right."
Rule of thumb
When a question asks "who is responsible?", default to the pilot-in-command unless the regulation explicitly assigns the duty to the operator or State.