On 13 May 2019 the Ministry of Transport (MoT) released an exposure draft of the proposed new Civil Aviation Bill, together with a commentary document. This post summarises ASMS’ submission on the exposure draft and links to our full submission. Most of the commentary below is from the executive summary of the submission. The full submission contains 28 detailed recommendations for change, some of which are points of detail but others of which go to the heart of the design of the aviation regulatory system.
19 August 2020
For immediate release
Independent analysis of research released by the Civil Aviation Authority indicates that the number of drones and drone users may be significantly overstated.
On 12 August 2020 the Civil Aviation Authority released a report from market research agency Colmar Brunton claiming that there may be 15,322 drones in New Zealand used for business or scientific purposes, and 156,610 drones used for recreational purposes. In an analysis released today, aviation consulting firm Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) calls into question the accuracy of these figures. Dr Andrew Shelley, the Managing Director of ASMS, said that the analysis draws on the firm’s own private data set of commercial drone operators as well as casting a critical eye over the data and conclusions contained in the survey report.
Dr Shelley stated that “the number of commercial drone operators claimed by the survey report is not consistent with the survey report’s own data.” He said that “using the survey report’s own data, the number of commercial drone users may be overstated by up to 337 percent. Applying the ASMS data set, we estimate that the number of drones used commercially could be overstated by up to 250 percent.”
Dr Shelley questioned “if this is true of the number of commercial users and commercial drones, does the same level of overstatement apply to the number of recreational drones and recreational drone users?”
The ASMS analysis also identifies that the survey report classifies airspace as restricted that is not restricted. In the ASMS analysis Dr Shelley suggests that the term restricted “was chosen to get good headlines that would drive a political agenda.”
Dr Shelley also questioned the implicit bias in survey questions that were clearly designed to garner support for the Ministry of Transport’s drone regulatory programme. “The questions are worded to imply that the proposed interventions will be effective, when there is actually considerable doubt about their effectiveness.”
“The importance of getting these numbers right goes to the heart of the Ministry of Transport’s drone regulatory programme” Dr Shelley said. “With drone users potentially over stated by such a large factor, there is a significant risk that these inflated numbers will be used to justify policy interventions that are not proportionate”.
In addition, Dr Shelley noted that the survey report “lacks basic data and analysis that would be expected from a robust analysis – there are no error bounds and no attempt to identify whether the results are statistically significant. This might not be important to the casual reader, but it is important if policy interventions are to be evidence-based.”
A copy of the ASMS analysis can be downloaded here.
You have an approved SMS Implementation Plan, but now what?
New course dates.
ASMS is pleased to announce two more dates for our popular 2 day practical SMS course. Extensive use is made of case studies and practical exercises to demonstrate how an effective SMS can work in practice.
You will benefit from experience gained implementing SMS for multiple Group 1 organisations, with trainers that also understand the constraints faced by small organisations.
Previous attendees have commented:
"Well worth attending. Some excellent stuff to get our process rolling."
"Great course, instruction was on point."
Audience
This course is intended for Chief Executives, Safety Systems Managers, and other staff involved with implementing and utilising SMS.
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20-21 May 2019 |
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24-25 July 2019 |
| Location: |
Ardmore Airport, Auckland |
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Ardmore Airport, Auckland |
| Registration link: |
(register) |
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(register) |
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| Cost: | $1,500+GST |
Places are limited, book now to reserve your place.
 The Pyka Egret. Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) is excited to welcome Pyka LLC to New Zealand. Pyka will be test flying their 'Egret 4' unmanned aircraft under a certification programme agreed with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. The Egret 4 has a wing span of 7.8m and maximum take-off weight of approximately 270kg, with 100kg being available for payload.
Once aircraft certification is achieved then Pyka intends to undertake commercial agricultural spray operations.  Simulated spray run (water only)
Our journey together began back in 2017 when we prepared Pyka's exposition for operation under New Zealand's Civil Aviation Rule Part 102. That journey has continued as we have provided regulatory advice, delivered pilot training and competency assessments, and will continue as we provide training for a UAV Agricultural Rating after aircraft certification and full Part 102 certification is achieved.
About Pyka
Based in Palo Alto, California, Pyka LLC ( flypyka.com) is an autonomous electric airplane startup aiming to make agricultural chemical application fast, and precise, and easy – even over challenging terrain.
ASMS is pleased to announce that our SMS course, SMS in Practice, has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority and added to our Aviation Training Organisation Schedule of Conditions.
Our next SMS course is on 4 and 5 March 2019. Make the commitment to obtain your CAA-approved SMS training and register today.
The malicious or negligent use of drones gives rise to significant risks. While the risky behaviours are subject to existing legal sanctions, the apprehension of perpetrators can be difficult.
Licensing is sometimes proposed as a means of controlling drone operations. However, licensing, even when coupled with surveillance and enforcement, does not prevent unlicensed individuals from engaging in the activity, or licensed individuals from undertaking the activity in an unsafe manner. Notwithstanding the prohibition on using a hand-held cellphone while driving, in the 2017 calendar year the New Zealand Police recorded 23,412 offences of using a hand held device for calling or texting while driving (New Zealand Police, 2018).
ASMS is proud to be associated with Life Flight as a Community Partner for the 2017-18 year.
On average, someone in New Zealand requires the help of Life Flight every six hours. In the last half of 2016 Life Flight flew 696 missions, of which 362 were intensive care transfers. Our contribution as a Life Flight Community Partner will pay the cost of at least one emergency flight during the current year.
In addition to our participation in the community partnership programme, Heather also works for the Life Flight’s fixed-wing operations as their contracted and CAA-approved Quality Assurance Manager.
Visit the Life Flight website for more information on their activities.
Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) congratulates Scion on the award of Part 102 certification for their UAV operations. Scion is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute (CRI) that specialises in research, science and technology development for the forestry, wood product and wood-derived materials and other biomaterial sectors.
Scion utilises its UAVs to capture LiDAR and multi-spectral imagery for a variety of tasks. The technologies can greatly increase forest management efficiencies by allowing companies to track and guide workers on regular forestry maintenance and remediation, and issues such as fire prevention and control.
ASMS is pleased to have prepared Scion's exposition and application for certification. We integrated Scion’s existing health and safety procedures with procedures that we developed to provide a complete exposition. Attaining Part 102 certification is symbolic of Scion’s intent to complement their scientific expertise with best practice in their UAV operations.
About Scion
Scion’s purpose is to drive innovation and growth from the forestry, wood product and wood-derived materials and other biomaterial sectors sector to build economic value and contribute to beneficial environmental and social outcomes for New Zealand. Formerly the NZ Forest Research Institute, Scion employs approximately 340 people and has its head office in Rotorua. For more information, please visit www.scionresearch.com..
Further Information
For further information on Scion’s UAV operations see:
ASMS has provided a submission in response to CAA's discussion paper on fatigue risk management.
CAA proposes to update the prescriptive fatigue management requirements currently provided in Advisory Circulars, and to also provide the option for an operator to implement an Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) as an alternative. In theory this would improve the management of fatigue as the prescriptive requirements provide a "backstop" while the optional FRMS enables the operator to adopt a different system if it will better suit its requirements.
Key points in our submission are:
- Get a review of the scientific literature done by a suitably qualified expert, and base the regulated scheme(s) and the principles for FRMS on that review;
- Fatigue is a safety risk, ergo no matter how it is managed it is part of the broader safety management system;
- Don’t make assumptions about what might or might not be reasonably practicable, but instead apply analysis based on the legislative definition of reasonably practicable; and
- Support all safety management initiatives, including fatigue risk management, with a genuine commitment to just culture.
We also noted that any effort to increase reporting will continued to be hampered by enforcement activities, and made reference to the proposal in our Review of Joining Procedures at Unmanned Aerodromes that safety reports should be collected by an organisation independent of the enforcement authority.
A full copy of our submission can be accessed here.
Image courtesy of Ktoine. Used under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 2.0.
Aviation Safety Management Systems (ASMS) congratulates Tiro 360 Ltd on the award of Part 102 certification for their UAV operations. Tiro 360's mission is to transform industries with better information, using a range of technologies to deliver information products that are visually powerful, highly accurate and instantly usable.
Tiro 360 provides a broad range of services backed up by proven expertise, including:
- topographic survey and mapping
- crop health and precision agriculture
- industrial inspection using specialised sensors
- applied use of GIS for analysis, asset management, and modelling
- data integration across multiple software and hardware platforms
- avionics design and electronic engineering
If specialised equipment is needed for your job they can design, build, and fly it.
ASMS is pleased to have prepared Tiro 360's exposition and application for certification. Privileges available under the certificate include operating at night, over persons or property, and within low flying zones.
Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) congratulates Fighter Jets.nz on the award of their Part 115 Adventure Aviation Operator Certificate. We are proud to have project managed the application process and developed the exposition for the Fighter Jets.nz operation.
Fighter Jets.nz is based in Tauranga and operates the Aerovodochody L-39C, a tandem 2-seat jet training aircraft. The L-39C has a top speed of Mach 0.8, equating to 910km/h at altitudes up to 3,600ft AMSL. The L-39 is also one of the most popular warbird aircraft: over 220 are registered in the United States, with 118 of those being the L-39C variant.
Photo credit: Strikemaster Club Facebook page.
Brett Nicholls, Chief Executive and owner of Strikemaster Ltd, has announced that NZ6362 and NZ6370 will shortly depart New Zealand's shores.
Brett says:
It is with some sadness that I would like to inform you that both my Strikemasters and all spares have been sold to Blue Air Training based in Las Vegas, USA. I understand Blue Air Training has eight Strikemasters and a significant inventory of spare – with my two, they will have four ex RNZAF Strikemasters.
The decision to sell was not taken lightly, however it has to be acknowledged that the landscape for Strikemaster operations has changed significantly over the last few months which had the potential to drastically increase the maintenance costs on the aircraft and the length of time each aircraft would be out of the air.
It came to light in the fourth quarter of last year that this company purchased all Strikemaster and Jet Provost spares from Australia (our main source of spare parts) and they have an extremely close relationship with a company in the UK who has the other significant inventory of Strikemaster spare parts. Obviously, with the reduction in spare part availability it meant that running a Pt 115 operation was going to be increasingly difficult and significantly more costly.
I would like to thank the Strikemaster team for all their support over the years – Dave, Mark, Dean, Heather, Shooter, Paul and the Pioneer team. It has been fun. The Tauranga airshow on Saturday will be the last time these two aircraft will be displayed in front of a New Zealand – a bittersweet moment for all involved.
Time seems to have flown by since July 2012 when Strikemaster Ltd first gained Part 115 certification and ordinary New Zealanders were able to experience a flight in these iconic aircraft. Thanks Brett for bringing these two Strikemasters back to New Zealand and giving everyone this opportunity.
Blue Air Training provides contract Close Air Support (CAS) training to conventional and special operations personnel from all branches of military service. In 2015, their Facebook page included a post noting that they had been awarded a contract to provide 1,000 flight hours per year of CAS training for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs).
Aviation Safety Management Systems (ASMS) congratulates Quadcam Drones Ltd on the award of Part 102 certification for their UAV operations. Quadcam's services include detailed inspection in the Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Utility industries, NDVI vegetation surveys and mapping, farm mapping, and general photography and videography.
ASMS is pleased to have prepared Quadcam's exposition and application for certification. Privileges available under the certificate include operating at night, over persons or property, and within low flying zones.
Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) congratulates Interpine Group on the award of Part 102 certification for their UAV operations.
Interpine Group is the first forestry and/or rural fire related UAV provider to obtain Part 102 certification. Privileges available under the certificate include operating at night, above 400ft AGL, over persons or property, and within low flying zones.
ASMS is pleased to have worked closely with Interpine Group on their certification application. We integrated Interpine Group's existing operating, maintenance, and safety procedures together with procedures that we developed to provide a complete exposition.
For more information see Interpine's post. To see more about Interpine's use of UAVs in rural fire, see this post, this post and associated Youtube clip of a controlled burn.
ASMS' client Flightworks expects to spring in to action with as warm and wet weather delivers ideal growing conditions for weeds. Utilising custom-built unmanned aircraft, Flightworks can precisely map the location of weeds and then precisely deliver spray to just the areas where it is required. This service is ideal when weeds are located in sensitive areas, such as estuaries and beside waterways.
Flightworks is certified under Civil Aviation Rule Part 102. As part of that certification, Flightworks was required to meet relevant requirements from the Part 137 agricultural operations rules, hold appropriate spray and chemical-handling qualifications, and demonstrate rigorous risk and safety management practices. As an additional assurance of competence, pilots are required to undergo and annual assessment administered by a CAA-approved Part 141 flight training organisation.
For more information on Flightworks' services and the benefits of utilising unmanned aircraft see the articles on Flightworks' website.
Does your SMS provider promise you a system that primarily addresses Flight Safety, or is focussed primarily on your flying operations? Is your SMS provider focussed solely on Civil Aviation requirements and paying little attention to workplace health and safety regulation?
If you answered yes to either of these questions then you could be at significant risk of failing to meet your obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The Health and Safety at Work Act makes it clear that the business has a primary duty of care to ensure that no hazard in the workplace harms any person, worker or otherwise. You must assess all of your hazards, evaluating the likelihood and consequence of harm occuring, and then work through a structured process to ensure that all hazards are appropriately controlled.
After years of detailed regulation by the CAA, most flight-related risks are adequately controlled. But what about hangar risks, electrical safety, and working from heights? And do you have a culture that encourages effective worker participation and active safety reporting? Talk to us today.
New Zealand privacy law encompasses the torts of wrongful publication of private facts and intrusion on seclusion, the Privacy Act 1993, and various provisions in the Crimes Act 1961 and the Summary Offences Act 1981. The privacy torts set a high threshold, requiring a privacy violation to be “highly offensive”, a test that is highly dependent on the circumstances of the individual case. There is considerable uncertainty over whether the privacy torts provide any effective cause of action against privacy violations by drone.
The Privacy Act creates an offence of an “interference with privacy”. One of the most likely causes of an interference with privacy involving drones is that personal information has been “collected by means that, in the circumstances of the case … intrude to an unreasonable extent upon the personal affairs of the individual concerned”.
The Privacy Act appears to provide an avenue for redress for a person who believes that they have suffered a privacy violation, but there are significant hurdles to overcome. Two particular problems are:
- The victim may not be able to see the pilot, and there are unlikely to be any identifying characteristics on the drone, meaning that it will be very difficult to hold a specific individual accountable.
- In a test case in 2015, the Privacy Commissioner held that if a drone is not recording then there is no information collected, so no information privacy principle can be violated and there is no interference with privacy.
There are sufficient uncertainties in the application of the current body of tort and statute that a person upset by unwelcome surveillance cannot be sure of an acceptable resolution, even when that surveillance takes place in a location where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
New Zealand’s current privacy framework requires clarification to better accommodate the challenges posed by drones. Some of the modifications could potentially be achieved by way of a code of practice issued under the Privacy Act, which may provide a relatively low-cost means of setting the standard of acceptable behaviour. Challenges will still remain because the characteristics of drone technology make it difficult to identify the operator, which in turn makes it difficult to obtain any legal remedy. Such challenges may mean that in some instances an alternative, more direct means of intervening to protect one’s right to privacy would be efficient.
Source:
This article summarises key aspects of the recent paper:
Shelley, Andrew (2016) “Application of New Zealand Privacy Law to Drones”, Policy Quarterly, 12(2):73-79, May.
A copy of the full paper can be downloaded from the Policy Quarterly website or Andrew’s author page on SSRN.
So you've got a "drone", but what laws apply when you fly? This article summarises some of the key provisions of the Civil Aviation Rules, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and the Privacy Act 1993.
Civil Aviation Rules
The Civil Aviation Rules Part 101 always applies unless you have received a specific exemption from CAA. Some of the key aspects of these rules are:
- You must have knowledge of the airspace you are flying in and the restrictions associated with that;
- You must always have permission to fly over people or property;
- You must not fly more than 400ft above ground level, or beyond unaided visual line of sight;
- If you are within 4km of an aerodrome then you must either:
- Hold a pilot certificate issued by an approved organisation (that’s us!) and have the agreement of the aerodrome operator (for uncontrolled aerodromes) or air traffic control (for a controlled aerodrome); or
ASMS is proud to have sponsored and managed the design of new safety briefing cards for Fly DC3 New Zealand Inc. The new safety briefing cards are in use on all flights. Copies of the cards, along with other Fly DC3 merchandise, can be purchased from Fly DC3. Click on the image below to see a larger version.
Aviation Safety Management Systems Ltd (ASMS) congratulates FlyStark on the grant of certification as a General Aviation Operator providing scenic flights around the Coromandel and charter services elsewhere in New Zealand.
Based in Whitianga, FlyStark specialises in scenic flights around the Coromandel Peninsula and associated islands, Great Barrier Island, and nearby coastal areas including Raglan. Packages are available including a cruise around Mercury Bay, and ground transportation can be arranged at all destinations. Take the hassle out of planning a weekend away and FlyStark.com.
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Cathedral Cove, one of the
attractions near Whitianga
in the Coromandel Peninsula.
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Services commence 10 October, and enquiries can be made via the FlyStark website at www.flystark.com/contact.
ASMS is pleased to have project managed the certification process for FlyStark, producing the operating manuals, preparing spreadsheet-based tools, assisting with contracts, and liaison with CAA.
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