Cape Town-based entrepreneur Gary van der Merwe appeared in the city's magistrate's court on Tuesday in relation to a charge under aviation legislation, his lawyer said.
Attorney Bradley Allison said the matter, which had to do with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) order for the grounding of a Vietnam war-era helicopter owned by Van der Merwe, would continue on Wednesday.
Allison, speaking from Johannesburg, said he was not sure what arrangements had been approved by the court, but that his client was not being held.
Van der Merwe reported to police earlier in the day in terms of an agreement and had been formally arrested.
The court case comes in the wake of repeated bids by the CAA to get Van der Merwe to stop operating the helicopter, which is a regular sight in the airspace above Cape Town.
Allison said the arrest and court action were part of an "unwarranted campaign of harassment" by the CAA against his client.