Kia ora Darren,

Thank you for your request. Please find the Ministry of Defence's response to your OIA request attached. We are transferring your request to the Civil Aviation Authority who will respond to you directly.

Many thanks,
Ministry of Defence

-----Original Message-----
From: darren sharpe [mailto:[FOI #22310 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 29 March 2023 10:01 a.m.
To: Information <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Unidentified aircraft over New Zealand

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Dear Ministry of Defence,

Can you please outline what are the requirements for civilian, commercial or military aircraft identification when flying in or over New Zealand airspace.

Does this identification requirement extend to being visible on commercially available aircraft tracking programmes such as "flight aware" or "flight tracker"

Are there different rules for overseas owned, operated or overseas military aircraft to identify themselves.

Under what circumstances could an aircraft be observed flying overhead but not be showing a presence on any of the commercially available flight tracking systems.

How can a member of the general public obtain flight plan details for an aircraft observed flying over New Zealand but not being displayed on one of the commercial flight tracker programmes

Yours faithfully,

darren sharpe

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Kia ora Darren,

I acknowledge receipt of your official information request to the CAA for
the following –

Can you please outline what are the requirements for civilian, commercial
or military aircraft identification when flying in or over New Zealand
airspace.

 

Does this identification requirement extend to being visible on
commercially available aircraft tracking programmes such as "flight aware"
or "flight tracker"

 

Are there different rules for overseas owned, operated or overseas
military aircraft to identify themselves.

 

Under what circumstances could an aircraft be observed flying overhead but
not be showing a presence on any of the commercially available flight
tracking systems.

 

How can a member of the general public obtain flight plan details for an
aircraft observed flying over New Zealand but not being displayed on one
of the commercial flight tracker programmes

We received your request on 13 April 2023. We will endeavour to respond to
your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 12 May
2023, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we
are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an
extension of that timeframe.

Your request is being handled by the OIA team. If you have any queries,
please feel free to contact us at [email address] with the reference
23/OIR/296.

If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your
request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken
into account.

Yours sincerely,

OIA Team

Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand  Q Aviation Security Service

Te Mana Rererangi Tûmatanui o Aotearoa  |  Kaiwhakamaru Rererangi

 

Legal Services | OIA

 * Level 15, Asteron Centre, 55 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011, PO
Box 3555, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

P  Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

 

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Kia ora Darren,

I am writing in reference to your official information request to the CAA
to which we have provided our response as below –

 1. Can you please outline what are the requirements for civilian,
commercial or military aircraft identification when flying in or over
New Zealand airspace.

 

The operating requirements for aircraft flying in New Zealand airspace,
including regarding operation of a transponder to provide electronic
identification, are set out in the Civil Aviation Rules (CAR). The CAR is
organised in “Parts” and the principal Part setting out aircraft operating
rules is Part 091.

 

Whether an aircraft flying in New Zealand airspace must operate a
transponder providing electronic identification depends on the category of
airspace in which the aircraft is flying. As discussed further below, all
aircraft flying in controlled airspace within the New Zealand Flight
Information Region must have a functioning ADS-B transponder. 

 

Aircraft flying outside of controlled airspace are not generally required
to operate with a transponder. Aircraft with a transponder installed may
elect to have it operating whenever the aircraft is flying, but this is
not a legal requirement except while in controlled airspace; or in any
uncontrolled airspace that has been designated “transponder-mandatory”.

 

The principal rules providing for operation of transponders are CAR 91.247
and 91.255.

 

The CAR are published, freely available and searchable on the NZ CAA
website, under the Tab “Rules”.

 

 2. Does this identification requirement extend to being visible on
commercially available aircraft tracking programmes such as "flight
aware" or "flight tracker"

 

Commercial Apps like Flight Tracker and Oz Runways are not regulated by
the CAA. So the accuracy of any of the information contained in those apps
is not guaranteed.

 

 3. Are there different rules for overseas owned, operated or overseas
military aircraft to identify themselves.

 

Generally, all civilian aircraft flying in New Zealand are subject to the
same rules, (CAR).

 

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is not generally subject to the Civil
Aviation Act or CAR, but specific rules including those relating to
operation of transponders in controlled airspace expressly provide that
such rules apply to NZDF aircraft and personnel, subject to some
exceptions.

 

The principal aircraft operating rules that apply to NZDF and its
aircraft, plus the exceptions are set out in CAR 91.1(b),(c) and (d).

 

 4. Under what circumstances could an aircraft be observed flying overhead
but not be showing a presence on any of the commercially available
flight tracking systems.

 

All aircraft flying in controlled airspace within the New Zealand Flight
Information Region must have a functioning ADS-B transponder. Aircraft
flying outside of controlled airspace may be operating without any form of
transponder. There is no requirement for any aircraft to be visible on any
commercial flight tracking applications such as those mentioned.

 

 5. How can a member of the general public obtain flight plan details for
an aircraft observed flying over New Zealand but not being displayed
on one of the commercial flight tracker programmes

 

The CAA does not record any aircraft flight data in real time. The only
agency that tracks flights other than the commercial App providers is
Airways NZ.

 

We hope this assists.

 

Ngâ mihi

Talia Rachel Zachariah (she/her)*

Official Information Advisor | Kaitohutohu

Legal Services Unit | LSU

Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand | Aviation Security Service

Te Mana Rererangi Tûmatanui o Aotearoa | Kaiwhakamaru Rererangi

 

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*If you’re wondering about the use of the pronouns he/him on this
signature, [3]read this article about how sharing pronouns in this way can
help create an inclusive and safe environment for transgender and
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This e-mail (and its accompanying attachments) is intended for the named
recipient only and may contain information that is provided in confidence
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References

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3. https://medium.com/gender-inclusivit/why...