IR-01-25-27576
17 October 2025
James
[FYI request #31804 email]
Tēnā koe James
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 29 July 2025. You
asked for information regarding the Police helicopter “Eagle” and drone activity on 13th
November 2024.
My response to each part of your request can be found below.
1.
Any notes, recordings or transcripts between the Police Eagle helicopter and other
police staff concerning drones on the day the hikoi crossed the harbour bridge on
November 13th, 2024.
Police received reports of two drones operating over the Auckland harbour bridge. Eagle
crew were made aware of the presence of the drones. Operational police identified the
operators and advice was given around lawful y operating a drone.
Al communications regarding this has already been provided to you under Police’s
response to your OIA (reference IR-01-24-40562) on 16 December 2024.
2.
The minimum approved and standard height for the Eagle helicopter to operate
above Auckland city.
Eagle flight operations are conducted under NZ CAA Rule Part 91 and 135. These are
the same rule parts that apply to all aircraft, not just Eagle. The standard minimum
approved height is 1000 feet, however Eagle has a CAA exemption from these rules
when necessary to undertake Police related work. The time below 1000 feet is kept to a
minimum.
3.
Has this been height been breached since Jan 1st 2023 to July 1st, 2025? If so, how
many times? Please provide the dates. Has this height ever been breached without
prior authorisation?
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exemption is in place and while instances may be
deemed breaches, they are not required to be recorded and therefore are not recorded by
Police. Accordingly, this portion of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the OIA,
as the information requested is not held by Police.
4.
In the last 5 years, has the eagle helicopter ever flown under the harbour bridge? If
so, please provide the dates.
To the best of our knowledge, Eagle has flown under the Auckland Harbour bridge once
in the past five years – on 21 March 2025. This was to facilitate a rescue.
5.
Has the eagle helicopter crew ever ignored instructions, communications or orders in
the last 5 years? If so please detail the dates and incidents.
No.
6.
How many complaints if any, have been received concerning the
noise/hovering/altitude of the police helicopter in the last 5 years?
There are multiple avenues available for public to express dissatisfaction to Police. This
can include via the website, phone cal s, in person, via other agencies such as the IPCA,
or direct at stations. We can only provide information received and actioned by the Air
Support Unit.
In the period between 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2025 we have received 597 complaints. Of
note 221 of this total were from two individuals.
Please note that as part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Police
proactively releases some information and documents that may be of interest to the
public. An anonymised version of this response may be publicly released on the New
Zealand Police website.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Inspector Juliet Burgess
Operations Manager (Relieving) - Auckland Deployment Group
New Zealand Police
