EASA PPL Air Law (P10) — Study Guide

Air Law is almost always the first subject student pilots tackle. Before you log hours, read charts, or work wind corrections, you need the rules that govern every flight: right of way, airspace classes, and what a PPL actually permits. The P10 paper is 20 questions in 30 minutes; at 75% pass you need 15 correct.

Most students find Air Law manageable once the material clicks: the logic is coherent. The difficulty is volume of precise detail — definitions, validity periods, and numeric limits. Practice questions surface gaps faster than re-reading the same chapter.

International conventions and organisations

Modern civil aviation rests on the Chicago Convention (1944). It established ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), the framework for state sovereignty over airspace, and the Annexes that standardise licensing, operations, and air traffic services. Annex 2 contains ICAO "Rules of the Air" at the international level.

For the EASA PPL exam you should understand what ICAO does, where EASA sits in the European regulatory structure (harmonised rules across member states), and how European regulation relates to the ICAO standards underneath it. Questions here reward careful reading over assumptions.

Rules of the air

This topic usually carries the most marks.

Right-of-way hierarchy (highest to lowest)

1. Aircraft in distress
2. Balloons
3. Gliders
4. Airships
5. Aircraft towing or towing a glider
6. Powered aircraft

Lower categories give way to higher. A powered aeroplane gives way to everything above it. A glider gives way to balloons and distress traffic, but has priority over powered aircraft. Edge-case pairing questions (e.g. glider vs balloon) test whether you know thefull order — not just "powered yields to unpowered".

Convergence, head-on, overtaking

• Converging (approx. same level): the aircraft with the other on its right gives way (standard convergence rule for powered traffic).
• Head-on: both alter course to the right.
• Overtaking: the overtaking aircraft gives way, passes to the right, and keeps clear; the aircraft being overtaken should not manoeuvre until clear.

Aircraft on final approach generally have priority over circuit traffic; when both are on final, the lower aircraft has priority — interpreted with sound judgement, not as a licence to cut in.

Minimum safe altitudes (typical VFR figures examined)

• Over congested areas (towns/settlements): 1,000 ft above the highest obstacle within 600 m horizontally.
• Over open country/water: 500 ft above the surface.

Airspace classes (ICAO A–G)

Examiners love contrasts between adjacent classes — especially C vs D.

• Class A: IFR only; no VFR; ATC clearance; full IFR separation.
• Class C: IFR and VFR; clearance required; IFR separated from IFR and from VFR; VFR receives traffic information about IFR; radio mandatory.
• Class D: IFR and VFR; clearance required; IFR separated from IFR only — not from VFR; traffic information as available; radio mandatory. Many PPL students operate most often in Class D around controlled fields.
• Class E: IFR and VFR; IFR needs clearance; VFR typically does not (national specifics apply); IFR/IFR separation only.
• Class F: advisory IFR service — uncommon in practice.
• Class G: uncontrolled; no ATC clearance required; no separation service — see-and-avoid; much low-level VFR in Ireland/UK.

The repeatedly tested distinction: in Class C, VFR is separated from IFR; in Class D, it is not.

ATC services vs flight information

Aerodrome, approach, and area control provide progressively broader ATC services with defined separation responsibilities where applicable. A Flight Information Service (FIS) gives weather, NOTAMs, and traffic information — not separation. The pilot remains responsible for avoiding other aircraft.

In controlled airspace you must comply with clearances — yet collision avoidance remains the pilot's duty (see-and-avoid). If a clearance would conflict with visible traffic, you remain responsible for resolving the conflict safely.

PPL privileges, currency, medical

What a PPL allows

• Act as PIC or co-pilot on aircraft of the appropriate category.
• Carry passengers subject to currency rules.
• Exercise privileges in ICAO contracting states subject to national requirements.

A PPL does not permit remunerated flying — even cost-sharing has tight constraints in regulation; exam questions test the principle clearly.

Passenger currency (90-day rule)

To carry passengers you need 3 take-offs and 3 landings in the preceding 90 days in the same class or type of aircraft. This applies to passengers, not to solo flying — a common mis-read.

PPL vs LAPL (exam highlights)

• LAPL is more restrictive on aircraft mass and passenger count (typically max 2,000 kg MTOM, max 3 passengers — confirm exact wording in current authoritative material).
• PPL requires a Class 2 medical; LAPL uses the LAPL medical standard.
• You cannot "mix and match": PPL privileges require a valid Class 2 medical.

Medical validity (typical figures examined)

• Class 2: often 60 months if under 40, reducing to 24 months from age 40 — exam scenarios state the pilot's age deliberately.
• LAPL medical: commonly 24 months, stepping down after age 50 — verify current AMC/GM tables for your sitting.

Nationality, registration, documents

Aircraft nationality flows from state of registration (Chicago Convention). Irish marks follow the EI-XXX pattern; displays appear on fuselage/tail and wing underside per authority specifications.

International flights expect core aircraft documents (certificate of registration, certificate of airworthiness, noise certificate where required, radio licence) plus valid crew licences — exam questions often isolate one item in a list.

Accident and incident reporting

Safety investigation aims to improve safety, not to assign blame in the first instant — that separation supports honest reporting. Know the broad definitions:

• Accident: occurrence during operation between boarding for flight and disembarking with fatal/serious injury, substantial aircraft damage/loss, or aircraft missing/inaccessible.
• Incident: occurrence other than an accident that affects or could affect safety.
• Serious incident: circumstances indicating an accident nearly occurred.

national notification paths (e.g. Ireland: Air Accident Investigation Unit) appear in state-specific notes — study the booklet your authority publishes for PPL candidates.

Where marks disappear

• Right of way: balloon vs glider, towing aircraft vs powered, etc.
• Airspace: numeric bases/ceilings, ATZ dimensions, clearance need at a stated altitude — scenario questions beat pure theory lists.
• Privileges: passenger currency vs solo flying; medical validity by age; LAPL medical vs PPL privileges.

How to prepare

Read once for conceptual understanding, then live in practice questions: they teach exam phrasing, expose weak detail, and build the 90-second-per-question pace you need for 20 items in half an hour.