Night Operation Lighting Requirements

In plain language

When flying at night, your drone must have lighting that clearly shows which way it is facing. Strobe lights are not allowed for this purpose because they do not show orientation; instead, you can use simple colored glow sticks.

Requirement as structured

CAA NZ requires drones operated at night to have adequate lighting to determine orientation, noting that strobe lights are not suitable for this purpose and basic lighting like colored glow sticks may be used.

Original regulatory text

To do this, they must ensure their aircraft has adequate lighting so they can maintain proper control and determine the orientation of the aircraft. • Lighting for these purposes can be basic – a simple example would be different coloured glow sticks on each side of the aircraft to differentiate left and right sides... • A strobe light is not suitable for this purpose, as it does not assist pilots to see the aircraft’s orientation.

Applies when

operation

VLOS