EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 No. 314
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Aviation
AIR NAVIGATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Section 26 of the Air Navigation Act 1920 provides, inter alia, that the Governor General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
For some years the Department of Aviation has been concerned about the possible hazards to aircraft of rockets fired either for rain-making purposes or as part of the activities of amateur rocketry societies. Some types of rockets may reach heights that put them into controlled airspace and present a serious hazard to aircraft.
It has been the practice of the Department to impose conditions on the operation of rockets particularly in the vicinity of aerodromes where a rocket is likely to penetrate controlled airspace.
The regulations amend the Air Navigation Regulations to make specific provision for the control of rockets.
New sub-regulation 316A(1) prohibits the launching or operation of a rocket over ground or water within 5 kilometres of an aerodrome and prohibits the operation of a rocket at a height exceeding 300 feet over any other ground or water, except with the permission of the Secretary to the Department. Under new sub-regulation 316A(2) the Secretary must have regard only to the safety of air navigation in considering whether to grant that permission.
New sub-regulation 316A(3) provides that permission may be granted to a specified person or a person included in a specified class of persons or to persons generally, or in respect of a specified rocket or a rocket included in a specified class of rockets. This provision will facilitate the granting of permission, and imposition of conditions, by means of Air Navigation Orders issued under the Air Navigation Regulations.