Commercial pilot · ACS CA.II.D · lesson pack

Taxiing

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Why this one matters

Runway incursions happen at walking speed, often to experienced pilots who heard what they expected to hear. A professional taxi is planned, read back, flown with eyes outside, and stopped the moment you're not sure where you are.

1 · Know these cold

•Before moving, review the airport diagram, Chart Supplement and NOTAMs, and find the hot spots on your route.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
•You need an explicit instruction to cross or enter any runway; read back every runway assignment and hold-short instruction.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
•Red signs with white letters are mandatory. Hold short of a runway holding position marking (on the solid-line side) when told to hold short or without a clearance to enter or cross; when cleared, look both ways and along the final approach and continue without stopping at the line. Leaving a runway, keep going until the whole airplane is past the marking.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
•Brake check immediately after the airplane starts moving, then control speed mostly with power.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.II.D.S5-S6)
•Hold the controls for the wind in a nosewheel airplane: quartering headwind, yoke turned into the wind (upwind aileron up), elevator neutral; quartering tailwind, yoke turned away from the wind (upwind aileron down), elevator down. Full back elevator into a headwind is for a tailwheel airplane.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Ground Operations)
•Expectation bias is a leading cause of incursions: write the clearance down and read it back; if it differs from what you planned, stop and re-brief.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
•Heads up while moving; set up avionics and run checklists while stopped.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

2 · The lesson

Before you move

Review the airport diagram, the Chart Supplement and the NOTAMs: closed taxiways, construction and hot spots.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
Plan the route, brief the hot spots, and set up radios, transponder and avionics before you move.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Clearances and radio

At a towered airport, get a taxi clearance; each runway crossing or entry needs an explicit instruction, including inactive runways.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations); 14 CFR 91.129)
Read back runway assignments, hold-short instructions and crossing clearances.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))
At a nontowered airport, announce your intentions on the CTAF and look both ways, including the final approach paths, before crossing or entering a runway.(AC 90-66, Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations)
Expectation and confirmation bias: you may hear the route you planned. Write it down, read it back, and ask if anything is unclear.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
A changed route or runway: stop if needed, re-plan with the diagram, and re-check takeoff performance before continuing.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Markings, signs, lights and wind

Six sign types: mandatory instruction (red, white letters); location (black, yellow letters, no arrows); direction (yellow, black letters, with arrows); destination (yellow, black letters, with an arrow); information (yellow, black letters); runway distance remaining (black, white numbers in thousands of feet).(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
Also: the ILS critical area holding sign and its ladder marking; enhanced taxiway centerlines (dashed yellow either side) warning of a hold line within 150 feet; and the nonmovement-area boundary (a solid and a dashed yellow line).(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs))
Runway holding position marking: two solid and two dashed yellow lines; stop on the solid side. Flashing yellow runway guard lights mark the same spot.(AIM 2-3 (Airport Marking Aids and Signs); AIM 2-1)
Taxiway edge lights are blue and centerline lights green. Use the windsock or wind tee for control positions.(AIM 2-1)
Aircraft lights per the AIM: beacon before start, taxi light when moving, all exterior lights when crossing or entering a runway.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations))

Preventing incursions, day and night

A runway incursion is any incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on a runway. Know where you are at all times.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
At night or in low visibility, taxi slowly, follow the centerline lights and signs, and ask for progressive taxi if unsure. Below 1,200 feet RVR, airports with a SMGCS plan use designated low-visibility taxi routes and charts, green lead-on lights, clearance bars, geographic position markings for position reports, and stop bars: never cross an illuminated stop bar.(AIM 4-3 (Airport Operations); AC 120-57)
If you're unsure of your position, stop and ask; never guess across a hold line.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)
Keep passengers quiet during taxi (sterile cockpit) and avoid heads-down tasks while moving.(AC 91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi)

Want it all on one page, with scenarios? Read the full lesson.

On the flight

ACS standards

Read back clearances; use the airport diagram; position controls for the wind; complete checklists; brake check immediately after moving.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.II.D.S1-S5)
Maintain positive control without excessive braking; comply with markings, signals and clearances; position the airplane properly at hold lines.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.II.D.S6-S8)

What your instructor is watching for

Your instructor watches for a briefed route and hot spots, complete readbacks, wind-correct control positions, eyes outside, a full stop at every hold line, and asking when unsure.

3 · Say it out loud

Answer each one out loud, then check yourself and mark how it went.

Remember Recall it
“What must you read back during taxi?”
Understand Explain why
“Why does expectation bias cause runway incursions?”
Apply Use it on a flight
“Taxiing at night at a large unfamiliar airport, you reach an intersection and aren't sure which way to turn. What do you do?”

4 · Common mistakes

Taxiing too fast and riding the brakes.
Less control and overheated brakes.
Instead: Brisk walking pace, controlled with power; brakes lightly.
Programming avionics while moving.
Most incursions happen during heads-down tasks.
Instead: Stop first.
Partial readbacks.
The controller can't catch a misunderstanding you didn't say back.
Instead: Read back the runway, crossings and hold-shorts in full.

5 · Quick check

Answer, then reveal. Flag anything you want to see again.

1. What color is a location sign?
2. On which side of a runway holding position marking do you stop?
3. When do you do the brake check?
4. Does "taxi to runway 27" authorize crossing another runway on the way?
Scenario5. Quartering tailwind from the left, nosewheel airplane: how do you hold the controls?

Trained it? Now prove it: practice taxiing out loud with our examiner.

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Connect it

One situation that runs across this lesson and its neighbors in the same ACS area. Decide first, then check.

Connect it · Preflight Procedures

A retractable-gear airplane with a constant-speed propeller. During preflight you find fresh hydraulic fluid near the nose gear. Three passengers are boarding.

How do the preflight finding, the passenger briefing and the before-takeoff check connect? Decide, then see the worked answer

Stop the boarding and keep the passengers clear of the airplane until a mechanic has inspected the fresh fluid near the gear and you, as PIC, have determined the airplane is airworthy. A failed gear system changes every landing. Once it's cleared, review the POH emergency gear-extension procedure before departure: a check on the ground proves only that the gear is down and indicating down now. Brief the passengers as 91.107 requires: how to fasten and unfasten their seat belts and, where installed, shoulder harnesses, and that they must be fastened for movement on the surface, takeoff and landing. Add the exits and emergency equipment. Confirm the down-and-locked indications in the preflight, and check them again before takeoff per the POH. The run-up is for cycling the propeller and checking the engine instruments; it tells you nothing about how the gear will work in flight.

AFH (FAA-H-8083-3C), Transition to Complex Airplanes; 14 CFR 91.7, 91.107

Brings together: Preflight Assessment · Flight Deck Management · Before Takeoff Check

Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →

Study aid, not FAA guidance. Sources: Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C); Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C); Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A); Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B); Your airplane's POH/AFM; AIM; AC 91-73; AC 90-66; 14 CFR 91.129. Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.