The Air Navigation Order 1989

Rules of the air and air traffic control

69.—(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Order, the Secretary of State may make regulations (hereinafter referred to in this Order as the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control) prescribing:

(a) the manner in which aircraft may move or fly including in particular provision for requiring aircraft to give way to military aircraft;

(b) the lights and other signals to be shown or made by aircraft or persons;

(c) the lighting and marking of aerodromes;

(d) the air traffic control services to be provided at aerodromes; and

(e) any other provisions for securing the safety of aircraft in flight and in movement and the safety of persons and property on the surface.

(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this article, it shall be an offence to contravene, to permit the contravention of, or to fail to comply with, the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control to be departed from to the extent necessary:

(a) for avoiding immediate danger;

(b) for complying with the law of any country other than the United Kingdom within which the aircraft then is; or

(c) for complying with Military Flying Regulations (Joint Service Publication 318) or Flying Orders to Contractors (Aviation Publication 67) issued by the Secretary of State in relation to an aircraft of which the commander is acting as such in the course of his duty as a member of any of Her Majesty’s naval, military or air forces.

(4) If any departure from the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control is made for the purpose of avoiding immediate danger, the commander of the aircraft shall cause written particulars of the departure, and of the circumstances giving rise to it, to be given within 10 days thereafter to the competent authority of the country in whose territory the departure was made or if the departure was made over the high seas, to the Authority.

(5) Nothing in the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control shall exonerate any person from the consequences of any neglect in the use of lights or signals or of the neglect of any precautions required by ordinary aviation practice or by the special circumstances of the case.