Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Civil Aviation Act 2023

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

394: Passenger endangering safety

You could also call this:

"Don't put people or planes in danger when you're a passenger on a flight"

Illustration for Civil Aviation Act 2023

If you are a passenger on an aircraft, you must not do anything that could put the aircraft or anyone on it in danger. You could be committing an offence if you do something that endangers the aircraft or people on it and you know it might cause harm or you do not care if it does. If you are found guilty of this offence, you could be sent to prison for up to 2 years, or you could be fined up to $10,000, or both, as stated in the Civil Aviation Act 2023 which can be found on the legislation.govt.nz website for more information, similar to the 1990 No 98 s 65F. This rule is in place to keep everyone safe while flying.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS49782.

Topics:
Transport and travel > Air travelCrime and justice > Criminal law
Previous

393: Proceedings for offences, or

"What happens if you break the rules of the Civil Aviation Act"

Next

395: Disruptive conduct towards crew member, or

"Be respectful to airline crew or you could get in trouble with the law"

Part 9Monitoring, investigation, and enforcement
Unruly passenger offences: Unruly passenger offences

394Passenger endangering safety

  1. No person who is a passenger on an aircraft may act in a manner that endangers the aircraft or any person in the aircraft.

  2. A person who acts in breach of subsection (1) and who knows, or is reckless as to whether, their action will endanger the aircraft or any person in the aircraft commits an offence.

  3. A person who commits an offence against subsection (2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.

Compare