Report a potential breach of aviation law

Rules and regulations are in place that pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft engineers and others have to follow to ensure the highest levels of aviation safety.  Information about UK aviation regulations can be found on the CAA website here. 

If you think you have witnessed a breach of these regulations, you can report it to us using the Make an online report link below.

Please read this guidance before you make a report.

Complaints dealt with by other agencies

• Drones
  To report a drone being flown dangerously, or close to an aircraft, airport, hospital helipad or a prison, or over a large crowd, contact your local police on 101.  If you are concerned about privacy, please see the Information Commissioner’s Officer website.
• Low flying military aircraft
  To report a low flying military aircraft, contact SWK-lowflying@mod.gov.uk or call 01780 417 558.
  
  
• Criminal activities and security risks
  If you think an aircraft is being used for criminal purposes or is a security risk, contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 or call your local police on 101 and quote Project Pegasus.

Aircraft noise is not a breach of aviation regulations and is not a statutory nuisance.  Information about the CAA’s role regarding aircraft noise can be found here: Noise: CAA Functions | UK Civil Aviation Authority

Flight delays and cancellations.  Information about consumer rights, flight delays and cancellations, luggage problems and complaints about airlines is available here: Travel problems and rights | UK Civil Aviation Authority.

What we can investigate

We encourage the reporting of suspected wrongdoing, but we do not have the resources to investigate every report.  All reports are assessed for evidence of a breach of aviation regulations and the impact on aviation or public safety before a decision is taken whether to investigate.

Examples of breaches of aviation regulations we may be able to investigate include civil aircraft flying without the correct approvals, companies or individuals charging for flights without the correct certificates, pilots flying without the correct licences and aircraft engineers undertaking unapproved work, and low flying.

• Low flying
  In general, civil aircraft flying in the UK are subject to the following distance rules:

 Except when necessary for take-off or landing or with permission from the Civil Aviation Authority, they must not fly 

• Over congested areas of cities, towns or settlements at a height less than 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a radius of 600 metres from the aircraft;
• Elsewhere than congested areas, not closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.

Please note that the regulations do not prohibit low flying over animals.

It is extremely difficult to judge accurately the height/distance of an aircraft. Photograph(s) or video(s) of the aircraft with a fixed point in the frame, e.g. a house, may help us identify the aircraft and its height/distance.

Please note that flight tracking applications such as FlightRadar24 are not accurate evidence of an aircraft's position or height.

How to report a potential breach of aviation law 

If you think you have witnessed a breach of aviation regulations, then you can make a report here: Make an online report. 

Please provide us with as much detail as you can.  Please do not include the personal details of other witnesses or their contact details unless you have first obtained their permission.

Once we have carried out an initial review of your report, and unless you have chosen to report anonymously, we will contact you to let you know if we will be taking action. We aim to contact you within 20 working days of receipt of your report and, if we are unable to do so, we will be in touch once our initial review has been completed.

Other issues you may wish to report

• Enquiries/complaints concerning the environmental aspects of civil aviation, including aircraft noise
• Aircraft near misses – it is almost impossible to gauge the distance between aircraft from the ground. If pilots or controllers think aircraft have been endangered by coming too close they can report the incident to the UK Airprox Board who will assess the incident. All its reports are available at www.airproxboard.org.uk