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Civil Aviation Act 2023

Functions, powers, and duties of participants in civil aviation system - Aviation participants - Provisions relating to pilots-in-command

16: Duties of pilot-in-command and operator in emergencies not arising in flight

You could also call this:

"What to do if you're in charge of a plane and there's a ground emergency"

Illustration for Civil Aviation Act 2023

If you are in charge of a plane or operating it and there is an emergency on the ground, you can break some aviation rules. You can only do this if the emergency is dangerous to people or property and you need to move people or supplies quickly to keep them safe. You must only break the rules as much as you need to, and there must be no other way to deal with the emergency.

You must make sure that breaking the rules is safer than not dealing with the emergency. You cannot break rules about the plane's airworthiness or fly a plane that is not registered. You also cannot let someone fly a plane if they are not allowed to.

If you do break the rules in an emergency, you must tell air traffic control right away and then tell the Director as soon as you can. You must explain why you broke the rules. If the Director asks, you must write a report about what happened, you can find more information about this in the 1990 No 98 s 13A(3)–(6).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS49514.

Topics:
Transport and travel > Air travel
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"What a pilot must do in an emergency while flying to keep people safe"

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17: Failure to notify emergency breach of civil aviation legislation, or

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Part 2Functions, powers, and duties of participants in civil aviation system
Aviation participants: Provisions relating to pilots-in-command

16Duties of pilot-in-command and operator in emergencies not arising in flight

  1. In an emergency not arising in flight, the pilot-in-command of the aircraft or the operator of the aircraft may breach civil aviation legislation only if—

  2. the emergency involves a danger to life or property that necessitates the urgent transportation of persons or medical or other supplies for the protection of life or property; and
    1. the extent of the breach goes only as far as is necessary to deal with the emergency; and
      1. there is no other reasonable means of alleviating, avoiding, or assisting with the emergency; and
        1. the degree of danger involved in deviating from the prescribed requirement is clearly less than the degree of risk in failing to attend to the emergency.

          1. Nothing in this section permits—

          2. the operation of an aircraft that is not registered in New Zealand or elsewhere; or
            1. the breach of any prescribed requirement as to the airworthiness of an aircraft; or
              1. the operation of an aircraft by a person who is not lawfully entitled to operate that aircraft.

                1. If the pilot-in-command or the operator breaches civil aviation legislation in accordance with this section, the pilot-in-command or the operator (as the case may be) must—

                2. immediately notify the relevant air traffic control service of the breach; and
                  1. as soon as practicable, notify the Director of the breach and the circumstances that necessitated it; and
                    1. if requested by the Director, provide to the Director a written report in respect of the breach.

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