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Keith ManchFrom the Director of Civil Aviation, Keith Manch

2023 has flown by and I’m pleased to share some of the highlights of the past few months since our last briefing.

One of the big areas of focus has been sector engagement with a domestic and international perspective.

I have had the privilege of attending the Aerospace Summit in Christchurch, and the Airports Hui in Christchurch, as well as the Royal Aeronautical Society’s New Zealand Division Symposium in Wellington.  For me these are very important opportunities to engage with people and issues that are critical to the aviation system now and in future. 

There are consistent themes about the challenges and the opportunities facing aviation in both its traditional and emerging forms, against the reality that aviation in all its forms critical for New Zealand from an economic and social perspective.  There has been open discussion about the pressure of costs on aviation, challenges in maintaining and developing a workforce to support aviation and space activity, the challenges of bringing young people into aviation, the supply of new pilots, engineers, and everyone else required to make aviation work.  The deep passion that people have for aviation was evident.   

There was also a strong theme that New Zealand needs a more cohesive vision and plan relating to aviation, along with strong collaboration between government and industry to make it happen. There is some hope that the development of the Aviation Council (one of the recommendations from the recent Air Navigation System Review) will be a focal point for this. 

The CAA’s intention is to maintain and further develop its engagement and collaboration activity in this vein.  Three examples are the work being done covered in this update relating to our Emerging Technologies Unit; our regular forums with Rule Part 149 organisations; and the newly commissioned Aviation Security Stewardship Group. All have a high degree of industry engagement and collaboration as a means of success.

I’m also pleased to be part of the Sustainable Aviation Aotearoa Government and Industry Leadership Group which will work with the industry to shape the direction of sustainable aviation. There’s a particular focus on sustainable aviation fuel, zero-emissions aircraft, and the strategic picture relating to this. 

At the international level, the CAA has been strengthening its connections with the Pacific Aviation Safety Office and our Pacific Island neighbours’ Civil Aviation administrations with a focus on operational safety and security, and the strength of our collective regional voice in the context of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.  I also attended the 58th Asia Pacific Director Generals of Civil Aviation (DGCA) meeting in Bangladesh.  This provided the opportunity to engage with a range of countries and organisations that are important to New Zealand’s aviation system and development. 

At an organisational level, earlier in the year I commissioned Mike Heron KC to review CAA’s approach to investigations.

The report from the review outlines a range of recommendations and ways to improve areas of investigative practice, particularly around complex investigations. The focus is on improving the Authority’s investigative function in order to reflect a consistent, fair and transparent approach across the industry. Its purpose is not to increase the number of enforcement actions, but to ensure that our investigation activity gathers the facts in a way that always enables the CAA to make informed decisions about any regulatory and safety action that is appropriate during and following an investigation. Our role requires CAA to consider the Civil Aviation Act, Health and Safety at Work, and Hazardous Substances regulation alongside identifying any appropriate safety and security improvements that might emerge during an investigation.

There are changes to the Civil Aviation Act, which takes effect in 2025, relating to restrictions on the admissibility of accident and information notifications; limitations on the Director’s powers to take law enforcement action and protection; and controls on the admissibility of flight data recording (see sections 339 to 344). These changes, alongside the investigation review, highlight the importance of CAA engaging with industry to refresh our collective understanding of the application of just culture principles by industry, and by the CAA as the regulator. This work will occur during 2024.

In addition to following through on the investigation review, there are two major areas of focus over the next year or so, in addition to the core activity of supporting aviation safety and security.  They are the preparation for the implementation of the Civil Aviation Act 2023 which comes into force in April 2025; and undertaking a well overdue funding review to ensure that the CAA is adequately funded to meet the expectations of the public in having a safe and secure aviation system.  

Finally, I recently came across the book 'From The Pilot’s Seat. Kiwi Adventures in the Sky.'  

As indicated in the author's Note, the book contains a collection of '23 aviation adventures from 23 flying Kiwis in the pilot's seat'.

Flicking through the contents page I saw that one of those pilots is Carlton Campbell, one of our South Island Aviation Safety Advisors, which convinced me to buy it.  

It's very interesting to read the stories of some prominent industry characters (including Carlton!) and their rich histories in aviation, from what triggered their first engagement through to where they are now. It certainly reinforces the significance of aviation in New Zealand, and the passion that people engaged in it bring. 

Keith Manch
Director of Civil Aviation

In this update


Work Together, Stay Apart
Working with Part 149 organisations to enhance safety
Emerging Technologies Programme update
Special Vector addresses fatal accidents
Aviation Security Stewardship Group launched
Safeguarding security enhanced areas through non-passenger screening
Civil Aviation Act 2023 implementation update
Aviation Community Advisory Group call for nominations
Apply online for pilot and maintenance engineer licences
Reminder to apply early for operator certificate amendments and renewals
Safety education publications update

Work Together, Stay Apart

In August we launched an industry-wide safety campaign to reduce the likelihood of mid-air accidents and the number of near collision and air proximity events within the circuit at unattended aerodromes. Since 2008 there have been 3 fatal mid-air collisions at unattended aerodromes, and near collision critical occurrences have been on the rise since 2016.

The safety campaign spans a two-year period with seminars for industry participants, working groups to address specific issues and educational material. The first product has been a new GAP video Plane Talking, which we’ve toured around the country with a series of seminars. If you missed it, you can catch a webinar version on 22 November. Coming up in 2024 are seminars for aerodrome users and more educational products.

Visit our website for more information about the campaign and look out for the Summer 2023 edition of our Vector magazine which will be dedicated to the safety campaign.

Working with Part 149 organisations to enhance safety

Many private and recreational General Aviation activities – that are not for hire or reward – are regulated in a ‘co-regulated’ model. This involves delegated and devolved responsibilities to Part 149 organisations – the sport and recreational aviation sector. They are authorised to undertake a range of regulatory functions such as licensing and certification in respect to gliding: hang gliding and paragliding, parachuting, recreational aircraft, warbirds and aero club activity. 

​​​​​​​It’s recognised that using external bodies in a regulatory role can help reduce costs and can take advantage of technical expertise or on-the-ground knowledge that might not be readily accessible otherwise. While beneficial, this approach can also raise questions about the extent to which their actions and interests are fully aligned with the regulatory intent for the role they play – their private incentives have the potential to differ, in at least some way, from the public interest; and their interpretation or understanding of the purpose of the regulatory system, and their role within it, may also differ from the policy intent.

Our goal is to work more effectively with Part 149 organisations to have a greater impact on safety. 

CAA’s regulatory strategy is at the core of this work and is the game plan that is used to help achieve CAA’s vision “A safe and secure aviation system – so people are safe, and feel safe, when they fly.”

The most recent workshop focused on four areas:

  • Data gathering and sharing so we have a rich and shared understanding of risks (intelligence and risk)
  • How best to target safety initiatives in the 149 sector (communication and engagement)
  • The application of just culture (regulatory strategy and decision making)
  • How the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 applies to, and works alongside, civil aviation law and rules in areas involving the complex world of sport and recreation activity (policy and legal).

​​​​​​​This work reflects a significant cross-organisation focus to bring together all the elements required to support improvement.

To date, we focussed on how we can work together to improve our intelligence led and risk-based approach within the sport and recreational aviation sector; and how we can work on behaviour improvement through focussed collaboration.  

We have formed a data sharing group and commenced developing safety awareness campaigns, including providing financial support for safety awareness initiatives. So far three organisations are actively involved in various stages of developing campaigns.  ​​​​​

Emerging Technologies Programme update

The number of projects in the emerging technologies arena are increasing and show now signs of slowing, which means it’s full steam ahead for our Emerging Technologies Programme (ETP) in providing an effective regulatory interface for innovators, while enabling the safe and effective integration of emerging technologies into the civil aviation system. Here are some highlights:

  • We’ve initiated a Reduced and Zero Emissions Project (RZEP) which is gathering pace.  RZEP brings together CAA functional areas of Certification, Licensing and Standards, Aeronautical Services, and International and Regulatory Strategy to ensure a system-wide approach is taken to the decarbonisation of aviation in NZ.  RZEP will, among other things, enable Air NZ to field a zero emissions aircraft commercial demonstrator operation in 2026.  This is likely to be one of the first, if not the first of its kind in the world.

  • The Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum kicked off in April to bring together key stakeholders in the regulatory, innovation, and academia sectors.  The purpose of the forum is to identify likely technologies, timeframes for introduction, and implications over the next decade.

  • Several Emerging Technologies staff attended the second annual Aerospace Summit in Christchurch in September,  along with CAA Board Chair Janice Frederick, Director of Civil Aviation and CAA Chief Executive Keith Manch, CAA Deputy Chief Executive System and Practice Design John Kay. This was a chance for CAA to provide valuable considerations to innovators so that they can be ‘regulatory ready’ when they seek to enter the aviation system.

Several developmental aviation innovations in NZ are reaching a level of capability/reach that have the potential to disrupt existing aviation activities if not appropriately managed among all stakeholders. Therefore, the key message to aviation innovators is becoming increasingly apparent: “It’s not about you, it’s about everyone else”. 

You can also now follow the Emerging Technologies Programme on LinkedIn


Deputy Director of Emerging Technologies Scott Griffith and Project Advisor Operational Policy, Emerging Technology Sophie Ray present to a packed room at the New Zealand Aerospace Summit 2023.

Special Vector addresses fatal accidents

Over the years we’ve seen a commonality among fatal accidents: a lack of flight planning (including getting the weather), VFR into IMC, over-reliance on tech, or a generally careless attitude to flying within the rules.

We’ve produced a special issue of Vector sharing stories from our safety investigators, as well as their advice on avoiding these common factors.

While it’s their job to examine the scenes of fatal aircraft accidents and try to find out what has contributed to them, they’d really prefer not to have to visit your family.

You can read the special edition here, or look out for the hard copy.

Aviation Security Stewardship Group launched

New Zealand’s aviation security isn’t a responsibility just for our Aviation Security Service, but rather depends on the whole aviation system functioning cohesively, with each person or organisation playing their part for a shared outcome.

To provide a forum for parties who contribute to, and benefit from, effective and efficient aviation security regulatory activities to collaborate to address the challenges, risks, and opportunities in the aviation security environment, we’ve established the Aviation Security Stewardship Group (SSG).

The SSG comprises representative members from Air New Zealand, the Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand, Christchurch International Airport, the New Zealand Airports Association and the Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation of New Zealand and the Ministry of Transport.

The inaugural SSG was held on 21 September. The Group is co-Chaired by the Director of Civil Aviation and a representative from the industry who is also a member of the SSG. At the meeting David Morgan was elected as the second co-Chair. In this capacity, he represents the general airlines and aviation sector, rather than Air New Zealand.

The first meeting saw productive discussions around the role of the members and the SSG’s potential scope. More information will be circulated when the SSG has worked through the best method and forum for the information.

Safeguarding security enhanced areas through non-passenger screening

In April we mentioned that we’d been working closely with industry to enhance non-passenger screening (NPS) and ensure it enhances security outcomes. Work is ongoing to reduce access points to security enhanced areas (SEA), in collaboration with airports, and dedicated Static NPS Screening Points, complete with x-rays and ion-scans have been implemented at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch Airports.

A consistent pattern of intervention rates in non-passenger screening is showing changes implemented in NPS are effective in detecting and preventing the entry of prohibited items into the SEA.

Operation Protect has been initiated to further enhance NPS screening by providing fit for purpose equipment and infrastructure for screening of people and vehicles, and providing the right equipment to enable Aviation Security Officers to conduct NPS activity while on roaming patrols within the SEA. The Op Protect project business case was approved by the CAA Board at its August meeting and a procurement programme has been initiated with priorities for Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), explosive trace detection (ETD) systems, and a Mobile Hub.

The Director also issued a new Notice of Direction (NOD) to Safeguard Security Enhanced Areas which took effect from 11 September 2023.

Civil Aviation Act 2023 implementation update

The Civil Aviation Act 2023 comes into effect on 5 April 2025 and implementation is now well underway.

The CAA and Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport are working closely together to implement the Act.

The Act largely continues or modernises our existing legislative framework. It also includes some new additions to better keep pace with changes in our regulatory and operating environment since the current Act came into force in the 1990s. These include:

  • Provision for new drug and alcohol management plans and associated random testing of workers performing safety sensitive activities.
  • New powers for authorities to respond to drones being flown in a dangerous way.
  • A framework to allow New Zealand to meet our internal aviation emissions obligations.
  • New powers for the Transport Minister to make new rules about national security risks within the aviation system.
  • A new independent review process relating to decisions made by the Director of Civil Aviation.

For more detail on the changes or to ask a question about the implementation process, you can go to either the CAA website or the Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport website.

Aviation Community Advisory Group call for nominations

Since its inception in 2005, the Aviation Community Advisory Group (ACAG) has pursued the enhancement of aviation safety in New Zealand by monitoring progress of rules and policy issues and promoting the participation of interested persons in the issue assessment process. ACAG consists of twelve members drawn from across the wider aviation community to provide technical and strategic advice to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on issues arising within the aviation system. 

Nominations are currently open to elect three new members to serve alongside the nine permanent members. To request a copy of the nomination form, please contact:

Mr Rex Baynes
Secretary
New Zealand Aviation Federation

Email: secretary@aviationfederation.co.nz

Nominations close 1 December 2023.

Apply online for pilot and maintenance engineer licences

We're improving our online services and you can now apply for a new license or update an existing one online with My Aviation.

Get started by creating an account with online registration portal. The registration process requires two factor authentication, so we recommend signing up from your desktop with your smartphone nearby.

See our Request help with online services page for helpful videos and FAQs.

Reminder to apply early for operator certificate amendments and renewals

It’s not new information that our certification teams carry a heavy workload and we frequently remind you to plan ahead, get applications in early, ensure that your applications are on the current (not outdated) forms, and that they’re complete.

This reminder is needed again, as lately we’ve seen an increasing number of applicants applying for something at short notice, and then complaining to us when we couldn’t do what they want within the timeframe they wanted it to be done.

Use this checklist to ensure your application is processed as smoothly as possible.

  • Use the correct form; these are on our website. Always use the form on the website as these are the most up-to-date versions.
  • Check the Certification pages on our website to ensure you know what you need.
  • Complete all relevant sections of the form. Incomplete forms will be returned to the submitter.
  • Submit your certification application sooner rather than later.

Safety education publications update

Our safety education team has been busy updating some core educational publications.

Revised Good Aviation Practice (GAP) booklets:

New posters from the Work Together, Stay Apart safety campaign:

Vector magazine Spring issue

Read recent Vector Online articles:

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