Legal | GAA

Why attempts to restrict New Zealand airspace for UAs must be blocked

November 20, 2018

Many folk in and around Alexandra (pop. 5440) were up in arms when a Christchurch-based firm called Skybase sought to restrict more than 500 sq km of Central Otago airspace in which to test unmanned aircraft. We do not know how many untested UAs are owned by Skybase in New Zealand, but we do know that Skybase is backed by US interests. We know …

Ice cold in Alex: UA operators get a frosty reception – and the threat of court action

October 22, 2018

Since we last looked at the Alexandra Restricted Airspace application for UAV testing, there have been some developments. Following a public consultation meeting held on 18 September, and requests from users, the closing date for submissions has been extended to 5 pm on Wednesday 07 Nov. The CAA has refused to release details of any risk assessments and Alexandra aviators are now threatening legal …

Changes: Why are we waiting? Because we’re at the bottom of the pile

July 28, 2018

The GAA has had a meeting in Wellington with CAA Board Chairman Nigel Gould and Director Graeme Harris. One of the topics was the length of time it takes to achieve a rule change. On his whiteboard, the Director drew a triangle which had the airline sector at the top, commercial GA in the middle and recreational GA at the base. He explained that …

The cockpit video and audio recording case

July 16, 2018

The result of the hearing by District Court Judge Cunningham has been published. Her decision has gone against the case presented by counsel for the pilot involved. The issue for the Court in the application for a pre-trial hearing was about the status of the evidence presented. The prosecution, with the assistance of the police, had compiled a DVD which included footage from the …

Shocking, insane and incompetent: Customers condemn the ‘toxic’ CAA

April 5, 2018

The full results of the GAA’s independent survey of CAA client satisfaction have been published. The report reveals significant disapproval and disquiet. On virtually all questions seeking a rating of 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (very high), the Authority scored below 5 and in some cases, such as cost control, less than 2. The CAA is described by some GA customers as “shocking”, “insane”, …

We’re calling for a public inquiry into the CAA

The GAA is seeking a public inquiry into the Civil Aviation Authority. On 5 April, the GAA released a report detailing known and alleged CAA failures and shortcomings and another showing the results of the independent CAA client satisfaction survey. The dossier of failures and shortcomings has taken about six years to compile. It contains evidence of failures by the Authority and its governing …

2018 January-February Bulletin

March 1, 2018

Urgent warning: Meet this amnesty deadline, or face a hefty fine If you are a commercial or private GA aircraft operator, you need to know right now about the New Zealand CAA’s bizarre behaviour regarding overdue operating reports. The Authority recently began issuing infringement notices and fines to commercial operators who did not send in their quarterly aircraft operating statistics on time. The fine …

2017 December Bulletin

December 31, 2017

The ‘Empty-skies-are-safe-skies’ policy is killing Aussie aviation (and New Zealand has the same symptoms) By DICK SMITH in The Australian, 28 December 2017 I don’t think you should ever regard aviation safety as what is affordable. — Australian Federal transport minister John Anderson, October 5, 2000 I welcome the appointment of Barnaby Joyce as Australia’s new Transport Minister. He certainly has a challenge in …

CAA Notices: The reinvention of a failed methodology

May 27, 2017

Since our last update, feedback shows that concerns are shared across the aviation sector about this matter. The introduction of CAA Notices would be a significant departure from the way aviation in New Zealand has been regulated for the past 25 years. Whilst the official comment period for NPRM 17-02 has closed, the following is a quick recap of what the CAA is proposing: …

Client Satisfaction Surveys in a post-factual world…

March 26, 2017

The CAA is either living in a fools’ paradise and thinks all its customers are happy, or it is deeply afraid to ask them. We can’t think of any other reason why the CAA refuses to hire a neutral organisation and tell it go to the customers and ask some honest questions. We also have convincing proof that no company or organisation can rely …

Category: Legal