The CAA is committed to enhancing aviation safety and security through thorough and impartial investigations. Our primary investigation purpose is to gather unbiased, comprehensive facts that will inform regulatory decisions and support actions to improve aviation safety.
The investigation process is designed to be transparent and collaborative. Throughout this process, we prioritise effective communication with everyone involved, ensuring they’re kept informed of progress, and of decisions as appropriate.
1. Upon an accident, occurrence, or allegation of non-compliance, CAA investigators may conduct initial enquiries to understand the circumstances to:
2. During the investigation, parties involved will be kept informed of:
3. Sometimes other agencies may have an interest in conducting investigations independent from the CAA. When this happens, the CAA may need to collaborate and coordinate with Worksafe, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), and NZ Police.
The CAA performs a range of functions, which includes:
The primary objective of these investigations is to collect comprehensive facts that identify and support an appropriate range of outcomes to enhance aviation safety.
Possible outcomes of an investigation are:
Our decisions are in accordance with our Regulatory decisions operational policy.
We observe the principles of natural justice and will ensure that involved parties will be given the opportunity to be heard and comment on any investigation findings before any decisions are made.
While CAA investigators conduct investigations, they do not make final decisions on whether to take any regulatory action.
For significant events an independent panel, possessing appropriate subject matter expertise, will: – review all facts upon the conclusion of an investigation – utilise the CAA’s regulatory decision-making model to determine the most appropriate outcomes ensuring public interest and just culture principles are applied.
For other matters, decisions will be made by an appropriately qualified and experienced manager.
CAA investigators adhere to the following standards:
These standards are underpinned by our values of collaboration, transparency, respect and professionalism.
The current approach to investigations has been in place since early 2024, following an independent review in 2023. The recommendations of review were that the Authority:
It also clarified that the Transport Accident Investigation Commission is New Zealand’s ICAO Annex 13 independent safety investigator, and that the CAA is not authorised to be a replica of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
More information about the independent review and our subsequent change programme can be found here:
Changes to CAA investigation practices
Update on changes to CAA investigation practices
The benefits of shifting our approach are:
