Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

During take-off the left tyre blew out causing the aircraft to swerve. The pilot abandoned the take-off but was unable to stop the aircraft before it struck a ditch and a bank where it came to rest.

A student on his first solo cross country lost control of the aircraft and it collided with the terrain. The pilot lost his life in the accident.

The aircraft suffered an in-flight structural failure due to flutter of the tail surfaces originating at the elevator trim tab.

The aircraft landed at Wellington ahead of schedule. All gates were full. While taxiing in a confined area in order to wait for the allocated gate to become clear the right wingtip of the aircraft struck the roof of a nearby covered walkway. A sealed area which would normally have provided a holding bay was occupied by a VIP car and two escort vehicles.

At about 1525 hours on 17 August 1998 a group of secondary school students were crossing the Henderson rail yard at the south end. A cyclist in the group dismounted to cross the rails, and while pushing his bicycle fell in front of train 2125, a southbound diesel multiple unit passenger train. The youth received serious injuries requiring amputation of one leg.

At approximately 1010 hours on Wednesday 17 January 1996, Cessna 337 N10R became airborne briefly in an attempted take-off from a farm paddock near Whakatane Aerodrome. The aeroplane failed to remain airborne, landed heavily and sustained substantial damage. Causal factors were insufficient take-off space and inappropriate pilot technique.

At about 2135 on Friday, 12 February 1999, the bulk woodchip carrier "Prince of Tokyo" was outward bound with 20 crew and a harbour pilot on board when it grounded on the western mole at the entrance to Port Otago harbour. The grounding occurred when the bridge team became distracted and were not monitoring the progress of the vessel. Initial attempts to re-float the vessel were unsuccessful. It was eventually re-floated with the assistance of 3 tugs on Sunday, 14 February 1999. There were no injuries, but the vessel suffered extensive underwater damage.

At 1455 hours on 7 September 1994, Train 402, the Rotorua to Auckland "Geyserland Express" collided with a truck on a private farm access crossing, resulting in the death of the truck driver. No specific safety issues were identified.

On Saturday 3 October 2008, the second-to-last wagon on express freight Train 524, wagon UK9007, conveying 2 loaded liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tanks, derailed between Puketutu and Te Kuiti on the NIMT while travelling around a 260-metre (m) radius right-hand curve at the posted line speed of 60 kilometres per hour (km/h).

[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.]

At 1210 hours on Monday 18 December 1995, a Hi-Rail vehicle and a light inspection vehicle collided head-on on a curve near Maxwell, on the Marton - New Plymouth Line. The driver of one of the vehicles sustained rib fractures in the collision, but the two occupants of the other vehicle were uninjured. The cause of the accident was the unauthorised presence of one of the vehicles on that section of line. No specific safety issues were identified as a result of this investigation.