Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Thursday, 20 October 2005 at about 1900, eastbound express freight Train 834 was scheduled to cross with westbound express freight Train 841 at Cora Lynn on the Midland Line. Train 841 was berthed on the loop when Train 834 also entered the loop and collided head on with Train 841. The locomotives on each train were extensively damaged, but there was no damage to the wagons on either train or to the track infrastructure. The locomotive engineers suffered minor injuries. The safety issues identified included:

On Saturday 28 July 2001 at about 0512, the coastal container ship "Spirit of Enterprise" was outbound from Onehunga in Manukau Harbour with 11 crew and a harbour pilot on board when it grounded in soft mud on the starboard side of Wairopa Channel. Initial attempts to refloat the ship failed and it was eventually refloated on the rising tide at about 1437 the same day. There were no injuries and the ship suffered no structural damage.

[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.]

[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.]

The aircraft departed on a scenic flight with 50 litres of fuel onboard. After becoming unsure of his position for some time the pilot returned to Napier and joined a right base leg for runway 25 some 1 hour 55 minutes after departure. The engine lost power and after landing the aircraft in the sea the pilot and passenger swum 150 m to shore.

On Tuesday, 6 June 1995 at 1415 hours the pilot was carrying out a snow landing in ZK-HDI in the course of a scenic flight. The right skid began to drop as the pilot settled the helicopter onto the snow so he lifted off and repositioned to a seemingly flatter area 10 to 15 m away. The helicopter tilted to the right again during the second landing, and as the pilot attempted to retrieve the situation the helicopter rolled rapidly onto its right side. The causal factors in this accident were the difficulty of assessing snow conditions accurately and "dynamic rollover".

The right rear main undercarriage of Boeing 767-200 aircraft, registration ZK-NBF, landed at Los Angeles Airport on 6 September 1993. The safety issues discussed are the effectiveness of post-runway excursion of inspections of the undercarriage, the inspection of main undercarriage assemblies which had already been involved in runway excursion incidents and the marking for identification of main undercarriage axles.

TAIC final report. Crew member seriously injured because workmates didn't know what each other was doing. Accidents happen when people don't communicate. Safety-critical worker did unauthorised work, didn't tell responsible officers, negating the abilities and authorities of those in command to keep people safe. Communicate the plan, double-check plan is still the plan, and speak up if danger looms.

At approximately 2240 hours on Thursday, 25 February 1999, Train 230, a northbound express freight, was travelling on the up main just south of McKays Crossing when dragging brake gear on a wagon near the centre of the train hit the spreader bar of the safety turnout where the line converged to single track. The impact caused the facing points to open and derail 19 of the following wagons. The derailment brought down part of the 1500V overhead traction line and blocked State Highway 1. Fatigue breaks in a brake beam assembly caused it to fail allowing the brake gear to drop.

On 7 June 2013 a Boeing 737-838 operated by Jetconnect Limited was undergoing scheduled maintenance at Auckland International Airport. During an inspection of the forward electronics and equipment compartment area under the flight deck, metal filings were found next to the stabiliser trim cable drum. On closer inspection a rag was found trapped under the stabiliser trim cable windings on the forward cable drum.

At about 1150 on Thursday 28 December 2000, a diesel multiple unit Train 3134 collided head on with another diesel multiple unit Train 3130 on the up main line between Penrose and Ellerslie. Train 3130 had become disabled at Ellerslie and with the assistance of a relief diesel multiple unit was setting back to Penrose in a wrong line running movement on the up main line.

During an aerobatic display at Wanaka on 3 April 1994 De Havilland Chipmunk, ZK-TNR, collided with the ground killing the pilot. Factors contributing to the accident probably included a departure from the pilot's recent aerobatic display ventures, the absence of a pre-planned programme of aerobatic manoeuvres, and misjudgement of loss of height and/or a mistaken impression regarding the aircraft height above ground prior to manoeuvre commencement.