A drone flying near Queenstown Airport forced a passenger plane to delay its landing on Wednesday.
The remote-control UAV was seen in the air near the Lake Hayes end of the airport runaway, alarming air traffic control staff who had not been told it was operating in the area.
Airways New Zealand's Emily Davies says it was a clear breach of Civil Aviation Rules.
"UAV aircraft must not be flown within four kilometres of any controlled aerodrome, without authorisation from air traffic control," she says.
"As a precautionary measure, our controllers instructed an aircraft to go around until we could be certain the airspace was clear for a safe landing. We gave clearance for the aircraft to land shortly afterwards."
The matter has been referred to the police, meaning the pilot could potentially end up in court.
Newshub.