Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Thursday 5 April 2007, ZK-DOJ, a Piper PA32S-300 Cherokee 6, was on a local charter flight from Queenstown with a pilot and 2 passengers on board. The flight was to include a landing and short stopover at Elfin Bay on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, before returning to Queenstown. During the landing at Elfin Bay, the pilot deliberately steered the aircraft off the side of the airstrip to avoid overrunning the end. The aircraft struck a fence and sustained moderate damage but there was no injury to the passengers or pilot.

[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 Friday 30 March 2007, Dornier 228-202 ZK-VIR was on a positioning flight from Westport to Christchurch, when the 2-pilot crew became light-headed and felt faint. Concerned about their safety, the crew was able to descend the aircraft and make a safe landing at Christchurch. They subsequently made a full recovery. No cause for the effects felt by the crew could be identified. The aircraft eventually entered revenue service and no further incidents were reported.

On Thursday 22 March 2007 at 1615, A6 EBC, an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, with 357 passengers, 16 cabin crew and 2 pilots on board, started its take off on runway 05 Right at Auckland International Airport bound for Sydney.

[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 Wednesday 21 March 2007, passenger express Train 200 collided with the rear of stationary passenger express Train 201 during a planned setback manoeuvre at National Park when radio communication failed. One passenger travelling in the rear passenger carriage on Train 200 received a minor injury. The buffer at the rear of the train was damaged.

[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 Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigated this accident on behalf of TAIC. Using the link in the sidebar to the right.

In the early morning of 7 March 2007, while fishing about 195 nm off the west coast of the North Island, the longline fishing vessel Walara-K took on water in its engine room and sank in 500 m of water within 3 hours. The 3 crew members were able to abandon ship into a liferaft from which they were rescued within 6 hours. The vessel was not recovered. The loss of the vessel and the absence of key documents have resulted in the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (the Commission) being unable to determine the exact reason for the ship

Between March 2007 and October 2009 there were 5 derailments involving container wagons conveying single 6-metre (m) containers loaded with bulk grain, positioned on the leading ends of the wagons. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (the Commission) combined the events into a single inquiry.

On Thursday 22 February 2007 at about 2200, the passenger vessel Cruise Cat collided with the outer starboard-hand light beacon at the entrance to the Waikato River at the northern end of Lake Taupo when returning from an evening dinner cruise with 90 passengers and 4 crew on board. After the skipper had checked the watertight integrity of the vessel and the passengers for injuries the Cruise Cat was returned to its berth at Taupo Marina where all the passengers were discharged without further incident.

On Friday 5 January 2007, at about 2200, the leading bogie of UK6765, the rear wagon on Christchurch to Picton express freight Train 736, derailed at 309.643 kilometres (km) on the Main North Line. The derailed wagon was dragged a further 3.5 km until it struck the south end main line points at Vernon, derailing the wagon immediately in front. The derailed wagons were pulled another kilometre before the locomotive engineer became aware of the derailed wagons and brought the train to a stop. There were no injuries.