{"id":13960,"date":"2025-06-12T12:58:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=13960"},"modified":"2025-06-12T12:59:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:59:40","slug":"call-for-tighter-rules-after-drone-and-plane-nearly-collide-at-auckland-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=13960","title":{"rendered":"Call for tighter rules after drone and plane nearly collide at Auckland Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is calling for tighter\u00a0rules and standards<\/a>\u00a0after a drone nearly collided with a passenger plane.<\/p>\n

Investigators have been looking into a near-collision between an Air New Zealand passenger flight and what was likely a drone in April, 2024, after a close call at 2000 feet on the approach to Auckland Airport.<\/p>\n

The plane was flying to the city from Christchurch.<\/p>\n

The commission found the drone was in breach of rules prohibiting drones from within four kilometres of airports, excluding limited and approved circumstances.<\/p>\n

It said neither the drone nor its operator could be identified.<\/p>\n

Manager Air Investigations Jim Burtenshaw said the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority should look at fully integrating drones into the aviation system and develop rules to reflect developments and best practice.<\/p>\n

“Most drone users comply with civil aviation rules, but some either don’t know the rules or choose to disobey them due to an expectation they won’t face consequences,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The onus is on drone operators to avoid aircraft. People buying and flying a drone should first know how to operate it safely, and where they can’t fly.”<\/p>\n

Three issues identified<\/h3>\n

Air investigator Ian McClelland said they identified three safety issues from the investigation.<\/p>\n

“From the top, it’s an educational process, informing pilots of their requirements,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Secondly, there’s a disciplinary aspect to it, that if they continue to break the rules that there are consequences, and thirdly bringing them into the system and treating drone pilots as another aviation operator.”<\/p>\n

Section 40 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023 said operating an aircraft in a careless manner was an offence, and was punishable by fines of up to $30,000 for individuals, and up to $100,000 for a company.<\/p>\n

Responding to the recommendations, the Ministry of Transport said it agreed, but was not able to fully accept the recommendations as there were no overseas best practice regarding drone use.<\/p>\n

Countries like the United States and Canada, as well as Europe, have established requirements for drone operators, the commission report said.<\/p>\n

Online training and a competency certificate was required to operate a drone in Europe, while a safety test and proof of completion was required in the US.<\/p>\n

Drone registration was also required in some countries.<\/p>\n

New Zealand does not require either of these under part of the Civil Aviation rules, and for drones weighing under 15 kilograms.<\/p>\n

The ministry said it was working with the Civil Aviation Authority on a number of drone related projects, and that the recommendations were partially accepted.<\/p>\n

“All regulators are grappling with the challenge and working collaboratively to find solutions,” it said.<\/p>\n

Source: RNZ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is calling for tighter\u00a0rules and standards\u00a0after a drone nearly collided with a passenger plane. Investigators have been looking into a near-collision between an Air New Zealand passenger flight and what was likely a drone in April, 2024, after a close call at 2000 feet on the approach to Auckland Airport. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13963,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions\/13963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}