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Civil Aviation Act 2023

Monitoring, investigation, and enforcement - Unruly passenger offences - Preliminary provisions

388: Application of this subpart

You could also call this:

"When this law applies to naughty behaviour on planes in or heading to New Zealand"

Illustration for Civil Aviation Act 2023

This subpart of the law applies to you if you commit an unruly passenger offence on an aircraft in New Zealand. It also applies if you commit an offence on an aircraft that is flying outside New Zealand, but the next time it lands is in New Zealand. You are on an aircraft that is considered "in flight" from the time all the external doors are closed after you get on, until the time any external door is opened for you to get off. If the aircraft has to make a forced landing, it is still considered "in flight" until the authorities of the country where it landed take responsibility for the aircraft and the people on it, you can find more information about this by looking at the related laws.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS49768.

Topics:
Transport and travel > Air travel
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Part 9Monitoring, investigation, and enforcement
Unruly passenger offences: Preliminary provisions

388Application of this subpart

  1. This subpart applies to any unruly passenger offence committed—

  2. on an aircraft in New Zealand, regardless of the nationality of the aircraft:
    1. on an aircraft in flight outside New Zealand, regardless of the nationality of the aircraft, if the next landing of the aircraft is in New Zealand.

      1. For the purposes of this subpart, an aircraft is in flight from the time that all its external doors are closed after embarkation until the time that any external door is opened for disembarkation.

      2. However, in the case of a forced landing, an aircraft is in flight,—

      3. if the forced landing occurs in a place within the territorial limits of a country, until the time that competent authorities of that country assume responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board the aircraft; or
        1. if the forced landing occurs in a place that is not within the territorial limits of any country, until the time that competent authorities of any country assume responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board the aircraft.

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