Our safety investigators look at aviation accidents and incidents – called ‘occurrences’ – to find the causes, and to prevent them happening again.
We receive reports of accidents and incidents from pilots and other flight crew, engineers, airlines and other operators, and ground crew – in fact, everybody in aviation.
Our investigators work with the person or organisation who reported the occurrence to find out what happened and why. Often a seemingly small event can highlight a potentially serious problem.
What is an accident or incident?
Information for family and friends following an aviation accident
See aviation concerns.
Phone 0508 ACCIDENT (0508 222 433) - Monitored 24 hours by the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ)
See the reporting forms below or email isi@caa.govt.nz.
To report a health and safety at work notifiable event, see reporting an event.
The easiest option is to use the online reporting form(external link).
Alternatively, the following forms can be downloaded:
CA005 Occurrence report [PDF 293 KB]
CA005AG Occurrence report - helicopter and agricultural aviation operators [PDF 1013 KB]
CA005SKYDIVE Occurrence report - adventure aviation skydiving operations [PDF 1.3 MB]
CA005B Bird incident notification [PDF 57 KB]
Read our guidance on reporting bird incidents.
CA005D Defect report [PDF 82 KB]
CA005i Occurrence investigation report [PDF 377 KB]
CA005RPAS Occurrence report - Remotely piloted aircraft systems [PDF 1.4 MB]
CAA800 Laser beam exposure questionnaire [PDF 24 KB]
CAA Section 13A Emergency flight notification and report [PDF 26 KB] – Required under Civil Aviation Act 1990
Email the completed forms to ca005@caa.govt.nz
Electronic occurrence reporting
CAA occurrence briefs - accident briefs
CAA occurrence briefs - GA defects
Fatal accident reports
Safety investigation reports (Note: Some occurrences are investigated by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, www.taic.org.nz(external link))
New Zealand fixed wing aviation accidents (1995 to 2004) [PDF 1 MB]
How to report occurrences - Aviators have always looked at flying accidents and near misses to find out what went wrong, and how they can stop it happening again. How to Report Occurrences has information on how and what to report, and who should do it. The instructions are easy to follow and step-by-step. It will help you do your bit to keep New Zealand skies safer. Published May 2018.
How to deal with an aircraft accident scene
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 – CAA as a ‘designated agency’
The collection and use of safety information [PDF 327 KB]
Missing aircraft detection and location - technology and system status review 2010 [PDF 231 KB]
