Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

The pilot flew a party of five tourists to land on the airstrip near the summit of Mt Tarawera. The approach and touchdown, in tail and crosswind conditions, was routine and an initial application of left brake gave no cause for concern. On the second application there was no response from the left brake and the aircraft began to drift to the right. The aircraft over ran the airstrip, went through some soft ground, and came to rest substantially damaged in a boulder strewn area of alpine scrub. The left mainwheel brake unit disc assembly had been weakened by corrosion and had failed.

On Wednesday 17 August 2005, at 1145, the pilot of ZK-HGI, a Eurocopter AS350 BA helicopter, flew a party of 4 adults and 3 children to a snowfield above Franz Josef Glacier, in South Westland. When approaching to land, the helicopter started to drift right, the skids caught in the soft snow and the helicopter rolled onto its right side. The pilot and passengers were able to vacate the helicopter and, other than some bruising, were not injured.

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]

On Thursday, 4 December 1997, the tug "Sea-Tow 22" was towing the barge "Sea-Tow 17" inbound across the Greymouth Bar. The tow line parted at about 0500, just as the barge was entering the moles at the entrance to the Grey River. The run in the river carried the barge back out over the bar and, despite several attempts, the crew were not able to retrieve the tow. The tug collided with the barge during one of the retrieval attempts, and ran aground. The barge grounded shortly after. The tug was able to re-float, unaided, on the next rising tide and pull the barge off the beach.

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]

On 29 August 2002, an incident occurred at Maimai when a locomotive engineer was authorised by train control to enter a section of track already occupied by a rail contractor. The locomotive engineer saw the contractor and stopped the train short of the work site.

At Queenstown Airport two helicopters came into potential conflict due to contrasting mental models, confusion over who is doing what, congested airspace.

TAIC assisted the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau with its inquiry into this occurrence. Report can be found using the link in the sidebar to the right.

On 16 February 1995 at about 0145 hours the fishing trawler "Austro Carina 100851" suffered a fire on board while moored at No.5 Jetty in the Port of Lyttelton. The fire was initiated by oil over-heating on a stove. Safety deficiencies identified included the level of fire fighting training for New Zealand 'Qualified Fishing Deck Hands'.

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]

On Monday 12 February 2001, at about 1115, jet boat "Shotover 6" was proceeding down Shotover River at about 75 km/h with the driver and 10 passengers on board, when the engine suddenly stopped. As a result the driver lost steerage of the boat and it continued for about another 50 m before colliding with rocks and overhanging trees on the riverbank. One passenger suffered moderate injuries and the driver and other passengers suffered minor bruising. The boat was slightly damaged. The exact cause of the engine failure was not established. Safety issues identified included:

On 23 December 1994, at 1745 hours Train 702, the Christchurch to Picton "Lynx Express" collided with a car on a level crossing over State Highway 1 just north of Omihi. A passenger in the car was killed and the driver and other passenger received serious injuries in the accident. The effectiveness of the road signs preceding the crossing was the only safety issue identified. Safety recommendations were issued in respect of the signage at railway level crossings.