20180501 Reynolds OIA Response.pdf

1 May 2018

Allen Reynolds
By:  FYI.org.nz

Dear Mr Reynolds

OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST
We refer to your request for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (“OIA”) set out on the
FYI.org.nz website on 2 April 2018 at: https://fyi.org.nz/request/7550-aviation-safety-and-rpas-drones-
in-controlled-airspace.
You  have  requested  the  following  information  regarding  drones  spotted  flying  illegally  through
controlled airspace in New Zealand (“illegal incidents”) for the period 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2018
for each incident:
1.  Date, time and location
2.  Aerodrome name and ICAO code (if within 4km)
3.  RPAS details
4.  Details of other aircraft involved
5.  Nature of the incident
6.  Details of people and any injuries
7.  Agencies informed/involved i.e. CAA, TAIC, NZ Police
8.  The agencies actions
9.  Outcome e.g. Court case, fines, drone/operator not found
Background
Sightings of drones operating without approval in controlled airspace typically come to Airways’
attention via three sources:
1.  A pilot alerts an air traffic controller to the presence of a drone operating in controlled
airspace;
2.  A member of the public alerts an air traffic controller to the presence of a drone operating
close to an aerodrome;
3.  On a rare occasion, a controller may sight a drone operating without approval at (or close to)
an aerodrome.
Therefore it is impossible for Airways to categorically confirm the number of drones flying illegally
(without consent) in controlled airspace. For the purposes of this OIA we have provided information
on drones that, in the main, were sighted by others and reported to us as flying in controlled airspace.
Furthermore, if an incident is reported to a controller it is Airways’ standard procedure to call the
Police, provided it is operationally safe for the controller to leave their position to do so and the CAA
is also subsequently informed.
Airways Corporation of New Zealand
Level 7, Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street, Wellington 6011
Phone: +64 4 471 1888, fax: +64 4 471
4712
P O Box 294, Wellington 6140, New
Zealand
www.airways.co.nz

Questions one and two
We provide the information requested below. Please note that while we hold the ICAO codes of
airfields (and have disclosed this to you in good faith) we do not hold the information to determine if
a drone is 4km within an aerodrome or not as we do not know all the local topography1. Additionally,
for this reason, we have provided the name of the air traffic control tower or radar sector terminal
that the drone sighting was reported to, rather than the aerodrome name.
Occurrence
Time
Location Of
ICAO
Date
Aerodrome name
(UTC)
Incident2
code

5/01/2016
1:21
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
5/01/2016
23:00
RO
Rotorua Tower
NZRO
7/01/2016
22:10
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
9/01/2016
1:57
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
1/02/2016
0:43
GS
Gisborne Tower
NZGS
9/02/2016
22:10
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
20/02/2016
0:01
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
20/02/2016
4:45
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
22/02/2016
2:40
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
1/03/2016
21:00
GS
Gisborne Tower
NZGS
7/03/2016
3:21
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
14/03/2016
0:02
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
16/03/2016
3:53
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
31/03/2016
0:15
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
8/04/2016
21:57
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
22/04/2016
8:00
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
15/05/2016
2:47
HN
Hamilton Tower
NZHN
1/06/2016
6:40
PM
Palmerston North Tower
NZPP
4/06/2016
4:20
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
4/06/2016
4:23
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
4/06/2016
23:59
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
13/06/2016
0:31
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
15/06/2016
5:20
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
2/07/2016
3:20
RO
Rotorua Tower
NZRO
9/07/2016
23:15
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
13/07/2016
0:34
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
27/07/2016
4:52
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
8/08/2016
7:00
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
9/08/2016
5:00
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
15/08/2016
6:00
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
16/08/2016
4:30
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
19/08/2016
5:49
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
28/08/2016
2:32
HN
Hamilton Tower
NZHN
11/09/2016
1:33
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
12/09/2016
22:36
MF
Milford Flight Service
NZNR
18/09/2016
14:06
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
27/09/2016
5:23
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
1/10/2016
21:46
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
7/10/2016
19:10
PM
Palmerston North Tower
NZPM
8/10/2016
5:55
AA
Auckland Terminal

9/10/2016
1:15
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
9/10/2016
21:10
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
13/10/2016
23:35
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
20/10/2016
22:50
NV
Invercargill Tower
NZNV
22/10/2016
2:20
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
23/10/2016
1:23
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG

1 Grounds for refusal under Section 18(g) of the OIA
2 Generic only
Airways Corporation of New Zealand
Level 7, Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street, Wellington 6011
Phone: +64 4 471 1888, fax: +64 4 471
4712
P O Box 294, Wellington 6140, New
Zealand
www.airways.co.nz

31/10/2016
3:22
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
1/11/2016
0:09
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
5/11/2016
21:33
AA
Auckland Terminal
11/11/2016
20:27
MF
Milford Flight Service
NZMF
11/11/2016
8:10
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
22/11/2016
8:04
MI
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
26/11/2016
1:12
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
1/12/2016
23:51
MF
Milford Flight Service
NZMF
4/12/2016
4:27
AA
Auckland Terminal
8/12/2016
1:00
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
14/12/2016
9:30
CH
Christchurch Terminal
22/12/2016
17:20
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
23/12/2016
5:08
BM
Woodbourne Tower
NZWB
24/12/2016
3:38
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
23/01/2017
21:10
WP
Whenuapai Tower
NZWP
29/01/2017
1:50
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
2/02/2017
23:09
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
8/02/2017
22:50
WN
Wellington Terminal
17/02/2017
7:37
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
18/02/2017
5:20
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
19/02/2017
7:44
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
19/02/2017
6:13
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
24/02/2017
2:30
HN
Hamilton Tower
NZHN
25/02/2017
3:30
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
25/02/2017
7:25
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
25/02/2017
22:34
NP
New Plymouth Tower
NZNP
26/02/2017
4:38
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
27/02/2017
2:45
NV
Invercargill Tower
NZNV
6/03/2017
7:20
RO
Rotorua Tower
NZRO
14/03/2017
4:51
WB
Woodbourne Tower
NZWB
19/03/2017
2:28
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
6/04/2017
6:02
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
6/04/2017
23:15
NR
Napier Tower
NZNR
15/04/2017
23:49
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
29/04/2017
23:58
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
30/04/2017
19:36
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
6/05/2017
5:08
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
28/05/2017
3:45
WP
Whenuapai Tower
NZWP
8/07/2017
2:08
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
19/07/2017
5:28
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
24/07/2017
22:22
EMRAG
Auckland Waypoint
25/07/2017
22:00
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
29/07/2017
5:35
NP
New Plymouth Tower
NZNP
2/08/2017
2:00
ML
Milford Flight Service
NZMF
5/08/2017
2:09
AA
Auckland Terminal
21/08/2017
1:00
PN
Palmerston North Tower
NZPM
26/08/2017
4:58
AA
Auckland Terminal
15/09/2017
23:17
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
17/09/2017
0:22
AA
Auckland Terminal
25/09/2017
0:01
AA
Auckland Terminal
28/09/2017
1:53
WN
Wellington Terminal
13/10/2017
23:10
PN
Palmerston North Tower
NZPM
15/10/2017
2:53
WN
Wellington Terminal
19/10/2017
2:55
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
28/10/2017
1:50
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
29/10/2017
6:55
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
31/10/2017
20:42
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
5/11/2017
8:38
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
5/11/2017
8:39
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
5/11/2017
23:13
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
19/11/2017
0:40
WB
Woodbourne Tower
NZWB
19/11/2017
4:43
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
Airways Corporation of New Zealand
Level 7, Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street, Wellington 6011
Phone: +64 4 471 1888, fax: +64 4 471
4712
P O Box 294, Wellington 6140, New
Zealand
www.airways.co.nz

20/11/2017
3:20
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
25/11/2017
7:54
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
26/11/2017
0:58
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
1/12/2017
22:50
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
2/12/2017
2:10
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
3/12/2017
2:50
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
7/12/2017
3:30
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
9/12/2017
0:52
CH
Christchurch Terminal

11/12/2017
1:36
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
11/12/2017
2:40
RO
Rotorua Tower
NZRO
12/12/2017
3:55
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
16/12/2017
22:36
GS
Gisborne Tower
NZGS
22/12/2017
1:46
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
24/12/2017
0:10
TG
Tauranga Tower
NZTG
27/12/2017
5:13
RO
Rotorua Tower
NZRO
28/12/2017
3:07
CH
Christchurch Terminal

2/01/2018
19:44
GS
Gisborne Tower
NZGS
19/01/2018
2:34
DN
Dunedin Tower
NZDN
21/01/2018
7:20
NS
Nelson Tower
NZNS
4/02/2018
5:44
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
9/02/2018
6:23
WN
Wellington Terminal

9/02/2018
20:55
WN
Wellington Terminal

13/02/2018
2:04
PP
Paraparaumu Flight Service
NZPP
18/02/2018
3:53
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
19/02/2018
22:52
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
22/02/2018
21:46
WB
Woodbourne Tower
NZWB
23/02/2018
3:38
AA
Auckland Terminal

27/02/2018
7:53
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
28/02/2018
23:38
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
5/03/2018
23:45
AA
Auckland Terminal

16/03/2018
8:40
CH
Christchurch Tower
NZCH
17/03/2018
19:13
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
17/03/2018
22:37
WN
Wellington Tower
NZWN
17/03/2018
22:38
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
18/03/2018
22:23
PN
Palmerston North Tower
NZPM
25/03/2018
0:04
AA
Auckland Tower
NZAA
28/03/2018
23:05
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
29/03/2018
1:05
QN
Queenstown Tower
NZQN
30/03/2018
2:38
AA
Auckland Terminal

30/03/2018
19:00
GS
Gisborne Tower
NZGS

Question three
Airways refuses this part of your request as Airways does not hold RPAS details for each incident3.
Questions four and five
Given that your request involves a large quantity of information, time and resources to carry out this
work, we are withholding the information on the basis that it requires substantial collation or
research4.
Furthermore, we advise that beyond the information provided to you in this letter, we estimate that it
will take approximately 62 hours in order to formally collate the information you have requested. In
accordance with the Ministry of Justice charging guidelines, we will charge $38 inclusive of GST per half

3 Section 18(g) of the OIA
4 Grounds to withhold under section 18(f) of the OIA
Airways Corporation of New Zealand
Level 7, Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street, Wellington 6011
Phone: +64 4 471 1888, fax: +64 4 471
4712
P O Box 294, Wellington 6140, New
Zealand
www.airways.co.nz

hour (after the first hour) spent extracting and compiling relevant data, making the charge for providing
the information approximately $5092.00 (plus materials used for consultations).
Should you wish to accept this  charge, we will be seeking to extend the period for a response for a
further 20 working days, in accordance with section 15A of the Official Information Act.
Question six
Airways does not hold any information relating to ‘details of people’ and ‘any injuries’5.
Question seven
The information you have requested involves a large quantity of time and resources to manually  go
through and extract this information from reports. Unfortunately, we are withholding the information
on the basis that it requires substantial collation and research6.
Question eight
Airways does not hold the information7.  The information is connected more closely with the functions
of the CAA and NZ Police8. Normally we would seek to transfer this question9 but as you have already
requested this information from them on the FYI.org.nz site10, they will respond to this part of your
request accordingly.
Question Nine
Airways does not hold the information11.  The information is connected more closely with the functions
of the CAA and NZ Police12. Normally, we would seek to transfer this question13  but as you have already
requested  this  information  from  them  on  the  FYI.org.nz  site14,  they  will  respond  to  this  part  your
request accordingly.
Your rights
You are entitled to apply to the Ombudsman for a review of our decision pursuant to section 28(3) of
the OIA.
Kind regards

Arama Eruera
Airways’ OIA Officer

5Grounds for refusal under Section 18(g) of the OIA
6 Grounds to withhold under section 18(f) of the OIA
7 First grounds for refusal under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA
8 Section 18(g)(ii) of the OIA
9 Section 14 of the OIA
10 See: https://fyi.org.nz/request/7549-aviation-safety-and-rpas-drones-update#outgoing-13708 and
https://fyi.org.nz/request/7563-aviation-safety-and-rpas-drones-searches-for-operators-drones
11 Section 18(g)(i) of the OIA
12 Section 18(g)(ii) of the OIA
13 Section 14 of the OIA
14 See: https://fyi.org.nz/request/7549-aviation-safety-and-rpas-drones-update#outgoing-13708 and
https://fyi.org.nz/request/7563-aviation-safety-and-rpas-drones-searches-for-operators-drones
Airways Corporation of New Zealand
Level 7, Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street, Wellington 6011
Phone: +64 4 471 1888, fax: +64 4 471
4712
P O Box 294, Wellington 6140, New
Zealand
www.airways.co.nz