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Moderator: AndyR

#1862371
Duncan M wrote:But that reference gives a number of answers depending on ATC control, aircraft being towed by another aircraft or a vehicle etc.
The question was in a much simpler form of who gives way without any other information, which allows either option to be correct.

@Duncan M, I don't fully understand your statement.
In the December 2018 SERA.3210 (d) (4) (iv) (A) states:
vehicles and vehicles towing aircraft shall give way to aircraft which are landing, taking off, taxiing or being towed;

If you look at this carefully you'll find that there is a circular reference in it i.e.
...vehicles towing aircraft shall give way to aircraft which are...being towed;

In the situation where two vehicles BOTH towing aircraft meet then it is not clear who gives way. However, in the December 2020 SERA version SERA.3210 9d)(4)(iv) (A) has been amended (applicable from 27 January 2022) it states:
vehicles and vehicles towing aircraft shall give way to aircraft which are landing, taking-off or taxiing;

The confusing
...or being towed;
clause has been removed

The definitive answer is dependant on which version of SERA the question setter based his or her question on. If I were answering the question I would opt to answer 'post 27 January 2022' and say the vehicles being towed give way to the aircraft taxiing.

I think your comment about 'ATC' control originates from SERA.3210 SERA.3210 (d) (4) (i) which states:
The movement of persons or vehicles, including towed aircraft, on the manoeuvring area of an aerodrome shall be controlled by the aerodrome control tower as necessary to avoid hazard to them or to aircraft landing, taxiing or taking off.

In which case, if the taxiing aircraft and the aircraft under tow were under the control of the aerodrome control tower then the instructions or clearance from the aerodrome control tower would be in accordance with SERA.3210 9d)(4)(iv) (A) and the answer would remain the same i.e. the vehicles being towed give way to the aircraft taxiing.

I do not see from where you see the dependency on the presence or absence of aerodrome control tower instructions?

I agree with @GrahamB 's point, there are two things to learn here, the detail and, more importantly, where to find the detail as things change as is demonstrated above in the amendment to SERA.
User avatar
By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1862375
The corollary to all of this is of course that the CAA, amongst many other urgent things, need to ensure that access to regulation is made as simple as possible. The SkyWay Code does this to an extent, but it's (probably) already out of date, and can't hope to contain all of the detail.

The current mess of adopted EU legislation, ANO, ORS4's and various other CAPs is difficult enough for the expert to navigate, let alone the poor student. That being said, instructors should make sure they've pointed their students to the various sources, how they are structured and where the commonly required info can be found.
Andrew Sinclair liked this
#1862377
I couldn’t agree more! I am in the process of updating a computer based training product and the chaos that is the retained EU regulation overlaid with so many other bits ‘n’ pieces has taken me a month to sort out - and that’s just at PPL level!!

We even have exemptions to our own legislation :lol:

On a more positive note, the laws of physics haven’t changed and flying is still 8) even if we humans make it too complicated!
GrahamB, T6Harvard liked this
#1862392
So the answer lies in future regulation to come into force in 2022!
I was just trying to be of help to students taking the air law exam. Now that you have pointed to the references they should all be clear!!

The corresponding rules for vessels at sea are very clear, giving a list of vessels and their pecking order in a collision situation.
For example: A vessel under power would be obliged to keep out of the way of a vessel engaged in towing operations.
Andrew Sinclair liked this
#1862398
Duncan M wrote:So the answer lies in future regulation to come into force in 2022!


Hmmm...In a manner the definitive answer does indeed lie in the future editions given that there is confusion in the wording of the current regulation.

That said, my instinct tells me that the confusion probably occurred during the drafting at the committee stage and was missed when originally published. The next step would be to look at ICAO Annex II - Rules of The Air on which SERA is based. There is nothing to that specified in there so then perhaps look at each States' declared differences in AIP ENR 1.7 and there is nothing in there...

I suspect that the answer to a question posed in a current UK CAA eExam would be that an aircraft under tow yields to a taxiing aircraft and maybe when writing the question, the question writer maybe came across the same issue and that's why there is an amendment to SERA.

Rather unsatisfactory...