Watching out in the pattern
The same regulations - FAR 91.126 and 91.127 - require that helicopters avoid the flow of fixed-wing aircraft but do not necessarily have to make turns in the same direction as the fixed-wing aircraft. As we noted in last month's article, these regulations do not actually require that you fly a full downwind-to-base-to-final pattern, but just that if you do make any turns, they must be made in a particular direction. Still, it is the recommended FAA practice to fly a standard traffic pattern to ensure orderly and safe approaches. And, certainly, these regulations suggest following that practice because of the very fact that they mention turns at all.
Another regulatory reason to fly a standard traffic pattern on approach to a nontowered airport is FAR 91.111(a), which states "No person may operate an aircraft so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard." Providing for the orderly direction and flow of traffic into an airport where there is no air traffic control can help all pilots approaching that airport to avoid collisions and, thereby, comply with this regulation.
The FAA has published Advisory Circular 90-48C, "Pilots' Role In Collision Avoidance," issued to alert pilots to the potential hazards of midair collisions and near-midair collisions. The publication mentions traffic patterns at nontowered airports.
Pilots should be familiar with and exercise caution in an environment such as a nontowered airport, the FAA noted, because they can expect to find a high volume of traffic. In those environments, the FAA advises pilots to use recommended traffic advisory communication practices, enter patterns in level flight, allow plenty of spacing to avoid overtaking or cutting any aircraft out of the pattern, never descend into the traffic patter from directly above the airport, and avoid entering the traffic pattern on the base leg or from a straight-in approach to the landing runway. In other words, the FAA recommends flying a standard traffic pattern and making standard traffic pattern radio calls to avoid coming too close to another aircraft that is also approaching the airport.
Another regulatory reason to fly standard traffic patterns is FAR 91.113(b), which provides, "When weather conditions permit, regardless of whether an operation is conducted under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft." In its advice to pilots, the FAA defines "see and avoid" as a means to avert midair collisions. The FAA points out that a pilot's see-and-avoid responsibility includes periodic scanning outside the aircraft; clearing procedures before takeoff and before all turns, abnormal maneuvers, or acrobatics, as well as during climbs and descents; and an awareness of the operating environment. In some respects, it is linked to preflight planning - become familiar with all available information and that information will help you exercise prudent judgment in operating your aircraft safely. And, certainly, if you can reasonably expect aircraft to be operating in a particular pattern, you'll be better able to see them and, thus, avoid them.
Flying the recommended traffic pattern at a nontowered airport helps you to stay in compliance with the regulation that requires turns in a certain direction, the regulation that prohibits you from flying so close to another aircraft so as to create a collision hazard, and the regulation that requires you to see and avoid other aircraft. What's more, flying the recommended traffic pattern is the safe and polite thing to do.
Kathy Yodice is an attorney with Yodice Associates in Washington, D.C., which provides legal counsel to AOPA and administers AOPA's Legal Services Plan. She is an instrument-rated private pilot.
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