The Air Navigation Order 1989

Interpretation

106.—(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires:

• “Aerial work” has the meaning assigned to it by article 107 of this Order;

• “Aerial work aircraft” means an aircraft (other than a public transport aircraft) flying, or intended by the operator to fly, for the purpose of aerial work;

• “Aerial work undertaking” means an undertaking whose business includes the performance of aerial work;

• “Aerobatic manoeuvres” includes loops, spins, rolls, bunts, stall turns, inverted flying and any other similar manoeuvre;

• “Aerodrome” means any area of land or water designed, equipped, set apart or commonly used for affording facilities for the landing and departure of aircraft and includes any area or space, whether on the ground, on the roof of a building or elsewhere, which is designed, equipped or set apart for affording facilities for the landing and departure of aircraft capable of descending or climbing vertically, but shall not include any area the use of which for affording facilities for the landing and departure of aircraft has been abandoned and has not been resumed;

• “Aerodrome flight information unit” means a person appointed by the Authority or by any other person maintaining an aerodrome to give information by means of radio signals to aircraft flying or intending to fly within the aerodrome traffic zone of that aerodrome and “aerodrome flight information service” shall be construed accordingly;

• “Aerodrome operating minima” in relation to the operation of an aircraft at an aerodrome means the cloud ceiling and runway visual range for take-off, and the decision height or minimum descent height, runway visual range and visual reference for landing, which are the minimum for the operation of that aircraft at that aerodrome;

• “Aerodrome traffic zone” means the airspace specified below, being airspace in the vicinity of an aerodrome which is notified for the purposes of rule 35 of the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control Regulations 1985(1):

  (a)

  in relation to such an aerodrome other than one which is on an offshore installation:

  (i)

  at which the length of the longest runway is notified as 1850 metres or less, the airspace extending from the surface to a height of 2000ft. above the level of the aerodrome within the area bounded by a circle centred on the notified mid-point of the longest runway and having a radius of 2 nautical miles:

  Provided that where such an aerodrome traffic zone would extend less than 1½ nautical miles beyond the end of any runway at the aerodrome and this proviso is notified as being applicable, sub-paragraph (ii) hereof shall apply as though the length of the longest runway is notified as greater than 1850 metres;

  (ii)

  at which the length of the longest runway is notified as greater than 1850 metres, the airspace extending from the surface to a height of 2000ft. above the level of the aerodrome within the area bounded by a circle centred on the notified mid-point of the longest runway and having a radius of 2½ nautical miles;

  (b)

  in relation to such an aerodrome which is on an offshore installation, the airspace extending from mean sea level to 2000ft. above mean sea level and within 1½ nautical miles of the offshore installation;

  except any part of that airspace which is within the aerodrome traffic zone of another aerodrome which is notified for the purposes of this order as being the controlling aerodrome;

• “Aeronautical beacon” means an aeronautical ground light which is visible either continuously or intermittently to designate a particular point on the surface of the earth;

• “Aeronautical ground light” means any light specifically provided as an aid to air navigation, other than a light displayed on an aircraft;

• “Aeronautical radio station” means a radio station on the surface, which transmits or receives signals for the purpose of assisting aircraft;

• “Air traffic control unit” means a person appointed by the Authority or by any other person maintaining an aerodrome or place to give instructions or advice or both instructions and advice by means of radio signals to aircraft in the interests of safety but does not include a person so appointed solely to give information to aircraft, and “Air traffic control service” shall be construed accordingly;

• “Air transport undertaking” means an undertaking whose business includes the carriage by air of passengers or cargo for valuable consideration;

• “Annual costs” in relation to the operation of an aircraft means the best estimate reasonably practicable at the time of a particular flight in respect of the year commencing on the first day of January preceding the date of the flight, of the costs of keeping and maintaining and the indirect costs of operating the aircraft, such costs in either case excluding direct costs and being those actually and necessarily incurred without a view to profit;

• “Annual flying hours” means the best estimate reasonably practicable at the time of a particular flight by an aircraft of the hours flown or to be flown by the aircraft in respect of the year commencing on the first day of January preceding the date of the flight;

• “Approach to landing” means that portion of the flight of the aircraft, when approaching to land, in which it is descending below a height of 1000ft. above the relevant specified decision height or minimum descent height;

• “Appropriate aeronautical radio station” means in relation to an aircraft an aeronautical radio station serving the area in which the aircraft is for the time being;

• “Appropriate air traffic control unit” means in relation to an aircraft the air traffic control unit serving the area in which the aircraft is for the time being;

• “Authorised person” means:

  (a)

  any constable;

  (b)

  in article 95(3) and (4) any person authorised by the Secretary of State (whether by name, or by class or description) either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of cases; and

  (c)

  in article 95(1) and (2) and in any article other than article 95, any person authorised by the Authority (whether by name or by class description) either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of cases;

• “the Authority” means the Civil Aviation Authority;

• “Beneficial interest” has the same meaning as in section 57 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894(2);

• “Cabin attendant” in relation to an aircraft means a person on a flight for the purpose of public transport carried for the purpose of performing in the interests of the safety of passengers duties to be assigned by the operator or the cOmmander of the aircraft but who shall not act as a member of the flight crew;

• “Captive balloon” means a balloon which when in flight is attached by a restraining device to the surface;

• “Cargo” includes mail and animals;

• “Certificate of airworthiness” includes any validation thereof and any flight manual, performance schedule or other document, whatever its title, incorporated by reference in that certificate relating to the certificate of airworthiness;

• “Certificate of maintenance review” and “certificate of release to service” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by articles 9(1) and 11(5) of this Order;

• “Certificated for single pilot operation” means an aircraft which is not required to carry more than one pilot by virtue of any one or more of the following:

  (a)

  the certificate of airworthiness duly issued or rendered valid under the law of the country in which the aircraft is registered;

  (b)

  if no certificate of airworthiness is required to be in force, the certificate of airworthiness, if any, last in force in respect of the aircraft;

  (c)

  if no certificate of airworthiness is or has previously been in force but the aircraft is identical in design with an aircraft in respect of which such a certificate is or has been in force, the certificate of airworthiness which is or has been in force in respect of such an identical aircraft; or

  (d)

  in the case of an aircraft flying in accordance with the conditions of a permit to fly issued by the Authority, that permit to fly;

• “Cloud ceiling” in relation to an aerodrome means the vertical distance from the elevation of the aerodrome to the lowest part of any cloud visible from the aerodrome which is sufficient to obscure more than one-half of the sky so visible;

• “Commander” in relation to an aircraft means the member of the flight crew designated as commander of that aircraft by the operator thereof, or, failing such a person, the person who is for the time being the pilot in command of the aircraft;

• “the Commonwealth” means the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the countries mentioned in Schedule 3 to the British Nationality Act 1981(3) and all other territories forming part of Her Majesty’s dominions or in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction;

• “Competent authority” means in relation to the United Kingdom, the Authority, and in relation to any other country. the authority responsible under the law of that country for promoting the safety of civil aviation;

• “Conditional sale agreement” has the same meaning as in section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974(4);

• “Congested area” in relation to a city, town or settlement, means any area which is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes;

• “Contracting State” means any State (including the United Kingdom) which is party to the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom at Chicago on 7th December 1944;

• “Controlled airspace” means control areas and control zones;

• “Control area” means airspace which has been notified as such and which extends upwards from a notified altitude or flight level;

• “Control zone” means airspace which has been notified as such and which extends upwards from the surface;

• “Co-pilot” in relation to an aircraft means a pilot who in performing his duties as such is subject to the direction of another pilot carried in the aircraft;

• “Country” includes a territory;

• “Crew” means a member of the flight crew, a person carried on the flight deck who is appointed by the operator of the aircraft to give or to supervise the training, experience, practice and periodical tests required in respect of the flight crew under article 28(2) of this Order or a cabin attendant;

• “Danger area” shall mean airspace which has been notified as such within which activities dangerous to the flight of aircraft may take place or exist at such times as may be notified;

• “Decision height” in relation to the operation of an aircraft at an aerodrome means the height in a precision approach at which a missed approach must be initiated if the required visual reference to continue that approach has not been established;

• “Direct costs” means, in respect of a flight, the costs actually and necessarily incurred in connection with that flight without a view to profit but excluding any remuneration payable to the pilot for his services as such;

• “Flight” and “to fly” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by paragraph (2) of this article;

• “Flight crew” in relation to an aircraft means those members of the crew of the aircraft who respectively undertake to act as pilot, flight navigator, flight engineer and flight radio operator of the aircraft;

• “Flight level” means one of a series of levels of equal atmospheric pressure, separated by notified intervals and each expressed as the number of hundreds of feet which would be indicated at that level on a pressure altimeter calibrated in accordance with the International Standard Atmosphere and set to 1013.2 millibars;

• “Flight recording system” means a system comprising either a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder or both;

• “Flight simulator” means apparatus by means of which flight conditions in an aircraft are simulated on the ground;

• “Flight visibility” means the visibility forward from the flight deck of an aircraft in flight;

• “Foreign country” shall, for the purposes of articles 88 and 92, include Hong Kong;

• “Free balloon” means a balloon which when in flight is not attached by any form of restraining device to the surface;

• “General lighthouse authority” has the same meaning as in section 634 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894(5);

• “Government aerodrome” means any aerodrome in the United Kingdom which is in the occupation of any Government Department or visiting force;

• “Hire-purchase agreement” has the same meaning as in section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974(6);

• “Instrument Flight Rules” means Instrument Flight Rules prescribed under article 69(1) of this Order;

• “Instrument Meteorological Conditions” means weather precluding flight in compliance with the Visual Flight Rules;

• “International headquarters” means an international headquarters designated by Order in Council under section 1 of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964(7);

• “to land” in relation to aircraft includes alighting on the water;

• “Legal personal representative” has the same meaning as in section 742 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894(8);

• “Licence” includes any certificate of competency or certificate of validity issued with the licence or required to be held in connection with the licence by the law of the country in which the licence is granted;

• “Licence for public use” has the meaning assigned to it by article 78(3) of this Order;

• “Licensed aerodrome” means an aerodrome licensed under this Order;

• “Lifejacket” includes any device designed to support a person individually in or on the water;

• “Log book” in the case of an aircraft log book, engine log book or variable pitch propeller log book, or personal flying log book, includes a record kept either in a book, or by any other means approved by the Authority in the particular case;

• “Maximum total weight authorised” in relation to an aircraft means the maximum total weight of the aircraft and its contents at which the aircraft may take off anywhere in the world, in the most favourable circumstances in accordance with the certificate of airworthiness in force in respect of the aircraft;

• “Microlight aeroplane” means an aeroplane having a maximum total weight authorised not exceeding 390kg., a wing loading at the maximum total weight authorised not exceeding 25kg. per square metre, a maximum fuel capacity not exceeding 50 litres and which has been designed to carry not more than 2 persons;

• “Military aircraft” includes the naval, military or air force aircraft of any country and:

  (a)

  any aircraft being constructed for the naval, military or air force of any country under a contract entered into by the Secretary of State; and

  (b)

  any aircraft in respect of which there is in force a certificate issued by the Secretary of State that the aircraft is to be treated for the purposes of this Order as a military aircraft;

• “Minimum descent height” in relation to the operation of an aircraft at an aerodrome means the height in a non-precision approach below which descent may not be made without the required visual reference;

• “Nautical mile” means the International Nautical Mile, that is to say, a distance of 1852 metres;

• “Night” means the time between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise, sunset and sunrise being determined at surface level;

• “Non-precision approach” means an instrument approach using non-visual aids for guidance in azimuth or elevation but which is not a precision approach;

• “Notified” means set forth in a document published by the Authority and entitled “United Kingdom Notam” or “United Kingdom Air Pilot” and for the time being in force;

• “Offshore installation” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971(9);

• “Operator” has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph (3) of this article;

• “Parascending parachute” means a parachute which is towed by cable in such a manner as to cause it to ascend;

• “Passenger” means a person other than a member of the crew;

• “Pilot in command” in relation to an aircraft means a person who for the time being is in charge of the piloting of the aircraft without being under the direction of any other pilot in the aircraft;

• “Precision approach” means an instrument approach using Instrument Landing System, Microwave Landing System or Precision Approach Radar for guidance in both azimuth and elevation;

• “Prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Order, and the expression “prescribe” shall be construed accordingly;

• “Pressurised aircraft” means an aircraft provided with means of maintaining in any compartment a pressure greater than that of the surrounding atmosphere;

• “Private flight” means a flight which is neither for the purpose of aerial work nor public transport;

• “Public transport” has the meaning assigned to it by article 107 of this Order;

• “Public transport aircraft” means an aircraft flying, or intended by the Operator of the aircraft to fly, for the purpose of public transport;

• “Record” has the same meaning as in section 73 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982(10);

• “Relevant overseas territory” means any colony and any country or place outside Her Majesty’s dominions in which for the time being Her Majesty has jurisdiction;

• “Replacement” in relation to any part of an aircraft or its equipment includes the removal and replacement of that part whether or not by the same part, and whether or not any work is done on it; but does not include the removal and replacement of a part which is designed to be removable solely for the purpose of enabling another part to be inspected, repaired, removed or replaced or cargo to be loaded;

• “Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control” has the meaning assigned to it by article 69(1) of this Order;

• “Runway visual range” in relation to a runway means the distance in the direction of take-off or landing over which the runway lights or surface markings may be seen from the touchdown zone as calculated by either human observation or instruments in the vicinity of the touchdown zone or where this is not reasonably practicable in the vicinity of the mid-point of the runway; and the distance, if any, communicated to the commander of an aircraft by or on behalf of the person in charge of the aerodrome as being the runway visual range shall be taken to be the runway visual range for the time being;

• “Scheduled journey” means one of a series of journeys which are undertaken between the same 2 places and which together amount to a systematic service;

• “Seaplane” has the same meaning as for the purpose of section 97 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982;

• “Special VFR flight” means a flight which is a special VFR flight for the purposes of the rules prescribed under article 69(1) of this Order;

• “Valuable consideration” means any right, interest, profit or benefit, forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility accruing, given, suffered or undertaken pursuant to an agreement, which is of more than a nominal nature;

• “Visiting force” means any such body, contingent or detachment of the forces of any country as is a visiting force for the purposes of the provisions of the Visiting Forces Act 1952(11):

  (a)

  which apply to that country by virtue of paragraph (a) of section 1(1) of that Act; or

  (b)

  which from time to time apply to that country by virtue of paragraph (b) of the said section 1(1) and of any Order in Council made or hereafter to be made under the said section 1 designating that country for the purposes of all the provisions of that Act following the said section 1(2);

• “Visual Flight Rules” means Visual Flight Rules prescribed under article 69(1) of this Order;

• “Visual Meteorological Conditions” means weather permitting flight in accordance with the Visual Flight Rules.

(2) An aircraft shall be deemed to be in flight:

(a) in the case of a piloted flying machine, from the moment when, after the embarkation of its crew for the purpose of taking off, it first moves under its own power, until the moment when it next comes to rest after landing;

(b) in the case of a pilotless flying machine, or a glider, from the moment when it first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment when it next comes to rest after landing;

(c) in the case of an airship, from the moment when it first becomes detached from the surface until the moment when it next becomes attached thereto or comes to rest thereon;

(d) in the case of a free balloon, from the moment when the balloon, including the canopy and basket, becomes separated from the surface until the moment it next comes to rest thereon; and

(e) in the case of a captive balloon, from the moment when the balloon, including the canopy and basket, becomes separated from the surface apart from a restraining device attaching it to the surface, until the moment when it next comes to rest thereon;

and the expressions “a flight” and “to fly” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) References in this Order to the operator of an aircraft are, for the purposes of the application of any provision of this Order in relation to any particular aircraft, references to the person who at the relevant time has the management of that aircraft, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly:

Provided that, for the purposes of the application of any provision in Part III of this Order, when by virtue of any charter or other agreement for the hire or loan of an aircraft a person other than an air transport undertaking or an aerial work undertaking has the management of that aircraft for a period not exceeding 14 days, the foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall have effect as if that agreement had not been entered into.

(4) The expressions appearing in the “General Classification of Aircraft” set forth in Part A of Schedule 1 to this Order shall have the meanings thereby assigned to them.

(5) A power to make regulations under this Order shall include the power to make different provisions with respect to different classes of aircraft, aerodromes, persons or property and with respect to different circumstances and with respect to different parts of the United Kingdom and to make such incidental and supplementary provisions as are necessary or expedient for carrying out the purposes of the Order.

(1)

S.I. 1985/1714, as amended by S.I. 1986/2121

(2)

1894 c. 60

(3)

1981 c. 61

(4)

1974 c. 39

(5)

1894 c. 60

(6)

1974 c. 39

(7)

1964 c. 5

(8)

1894 c. 60

(9)

1971 c. 61: section 1 of this Act was amended by section 24 of the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23)

(10)

1982 c. 16

(11)

1952. c.67.