Making a complaint
The Te Kowhai Airfield wishes to resolve any problems as soon as possible. All aircraft operators using the facility are required to operate in accordance with the aviation regulations. Complaints will be fully investigated if they are submitted within 48 hours of the event complained about, using the ‘Complaints Form’ below and giving enough detail for a meaningful investigation to be carried out and any problem identified and mitigated.
Notes for complainants. To enable a satisfactory resolution of your complaint:
- Be specific. “An aircraft flew at low level over my house last weekend” does not give enough information to identify the person or organisation responsible. “A yellow and blue microlight flew at low level over my house situated at 98a Limmer Road at 10:43 on Saturday 21st and departed to the South” enables an investigation to be undertaken and the particular aircraft and pilot to be identified.
- Submit any complaint within 48 hours maximum, and preferably 24 hours. Once a week has passed it is difficult to be certain of who did what, when, and why.
- Attach photos if possible. These are a considerable help to the investigating officer. Even if an aircraft in a photo is too small to have much detail, a photo always helps with aircraft identification and enables estimates of aircraft altitude, flight activity and weather conditions.
- State the regulation or requirement that you suspect has been infringed. For a complaint to be upheld, someone needs to have acted outside the regulations. The Airfield is a consented transport facility and may be used by aircraft at any time so long as the flight is conducted in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority regulations.
- Sent your complaint to the Airfield. Territorial local authorities do not have responsibility for aircraft and airfield operations.
All formal complaints are taken seriously. Airfield Management will acknowledge receipt of the complaint and will carry out a preliminary investigation to gather more information. Every formal complaint is then submitted to the independent Airfield Safety Committee for consideration. The committee will then carry out any further investigation and interview any pilots / operators / the complainant / Airfield management, as they consider necessary. The committee may make a recommendation for action to be taken. Recommendations of the Safety Committee will always be fully considered by Airfield Management and maybe adopted as Airfield operational policy.
To make a complaint either download our PDF form or submit details via an online form.
Please note that Airfield Management is unable to respond to complaints coming through a third party and/or a complaint made several days or weeks after the event.
Contact us
Phone: 027 666 6637
Email: pete@nzte.net.nz
Address: 172 Limmer Road, RD8, Hamilton 3288