Civil Aviation Act 1990

Miscellaneous provisions

97: Nuisance, trespass, and responsibility for damage

You could also call this:

"Rules about aircraft noise, flying over property, and who pays for damage caused by planes"

You can't sue for nuisance because of noise or vibration from aircraft or engines at an airport if the noise or vibration follows the rules made under sections 28, 29, or 30.

You can't sue for trespass or nuisance just because an aircraft flies over your property at a reasonable height, as long as it follows the rules.

If an aircraft causes damage to property on land or water while flying, taking off, landing, or if something falls from it, you can get money from the aircraft owner. You don't need to prove they were careless. But if you were partly at fault, you might get less money.

If the aircraft owner has to pay for damage that someone else caused, the owner can ask that person to pay them back.

If you were partly at fault for the damage, the Contributory Negligence Act 1947 decides how much money you get.

If someone parachutes from a plane and causes damage, you can't get money from the plane owner. You have to ask the person who parachuted for money instead. But this doesn't apply if the person had to jump to avoid getting hurt or dying.

If someone hires an aircraft for more than 28 days and doesn't use the owner's crew, the person who hired it is treated as the owner for these rules.

In this section, 'fault' means being careless, breaking a law, or doing something that makes you responsible for damage.

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This page was last updated on 15 April 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM218702.

Topics:

Transport and travel > Air travel

96F: Filing of notices, or

"This rule about sending notices was removed from the law in 2004"

98: Indemnity in respect of certain messages, or

"This rule about protecting special messages was removed from the law"

Part 11Miscellaneous provisions

97Nuisance, trespass, and responsibility for damage

No action for nuisance may be brought in respect of the noise or vibration caused by aircraft or aircraft engines on an aerodrome, if the noise or vibration is of a kind specified in any rules made under section 28 or section 29 or section 30, so long as the provisions of the rules are duly complied with.
No action shall lie in respect of trespass, or in respect of nuisance, by reason only of the flight of aircraft over any property at a height above the ground which having regard to wind, weather, and all the circumstances of the case is reasonable, so long as the provisions of this Act and of any rules made under this Act are duly complied with.
Where material damage or loss is caused to property on land or water by an aircraft in flight, taking off, landing, or alighting, or by any person or article in or falling from any such aircraft, damages shall be recoverable from the owner of the aircraft, without proof of negligence or intention or other cause of action, as if the damage or loss was caused by his or her fault, except where the damage or loss was caused by or contributed to by the fault of the person by whom the same was suffered.
Where damage or loss is caused in the manner described in subsection (3) and in circumstances in which—
damages are recoverable from the owner of the aircraft in respect of the damage or loss by virtue only of the provisions of subsection (3); and
some person other than the owner is liable to pay damages in respect of the damage or loss,—

Where damage or loss is contributed to by the fault of the person by whom the same was suffered, the provisions of the Contributory Negligence Act 1947 as to apportionment shall apply.
Damages shall not be recoverable under subsection (4) from the owner of an aircraft in respect of damage or loss caused by a person descending from the aircraft by parachute. Damages shall be recoverable from the person descending and the provisions of subsection (4) shall, with the necessary modifications, apply as if the person descending were the owner of the aircraft. This subsection shall not apply in respect of damage or loss caused by a person descending from an aircraft by parachute where the descent is required to avoid injury or death.
Where an aircraft has been hired out to any other person by the owner thereof, for a period greater than 28 days and no pilot, commander, navigator, or operative member of the crew of the aircraft is in the employment of the owner, this section shall apply as though every reference to the owner were a reference to the person to whom the aircraft has been so hired out.
For the purposes of this section, the term fault means negligence, breach of statutory duty, or other act or omission which gives rise to a liability in tort or would, apart from the Contributory Negligence Act 1947, give rise to the defence of contributory negligence.

Compare

1964 No 68 s 23