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Investigations are underway in French Polynesia into last week's crash of a drone in the Tahiti airport area.

La Depeche de Tahiti reported that Air Tahiti pilots on a taxiway had spotted a 30 centimetre drone and alerted fire-fighters who arrived just after the device had crashed.

Civil aviation authorities are yet to establish from where the drone flew into the area.

Under French law, drones are banned at airports and since 2015 strict rules apply elsewhere.

If a drone is equipped with a camera, it may fly no higher than 150 metres and can only fly over public places and people with their consent and a civil aviation authorisation issued a month in advance.