Inquiries & Recommendations

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On Sunday 27 July 2003 at about 0450, the motor tanker "Eastern Honor" grounded while entering Whangarei Harbour to berth at Marsden Point Oil terminal. The hull in the area of the bow, stern and rudder was damaged. The "Eastern Honor" subsequently berthed safely at the oil terminal where the cargo was discharged. There were no injuries and no discharge of oil into the environment. This grounding occurred about 3½ months after a similar incident involving the "Capella Voyager" (TAIC Marine Occurrence Report 03-206).

On Wednesday, 24 February 1999 at about 0640, the passenger and freight ferry "Aratere", with 221 passengers and 33 crew on board, was proceeding past Point Halswell in Wellington Harbour at the beginning of a scheduled service to Picton, when the vessel suffered a series of power failures that eventually left it adrift without power. The emergency generator that was designed to supply power to essential services also failed.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission assisted an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation into an aviation safety incident in Australia. The ATSB reported that during the cruise phase of a Boeing 737’s freight flight from Perth to Christmas Island, the crew detected altitude and airspeed disagreements and returned to safely land at Perth. Post-flight inspection found melted plastic on the pitot tubes. The tubes supply pitot pressure to a range of flight instruments and are often protected by a cover when an aircraft is parked. New Zealand has completed its support for this inquiry.

[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 the normal lift-off point, the pilot heard a 'bang' and felt the aircraft wobble. On checking the ski positions he saw that the left ski was hanging about 40ø out of alignment and it was evident that the undercarriage leg had fractured, the wheel/ski assembly being retained largely by the front and rear cable/bungee installation.

On Monday 14 April 2008, a brake pad calliper fell from a wheel set on the fourth car of a DMU passenger train at Sylvia Park. The brake calliper fell across the rail and derailed one wheel set on the train. The train was stopped, but not before the wheel set, plus another that subsequently derailed, had re-railed. The brake calliper fell because the securing key had either failed or worked loose.

An Embraer EMB-110P1 (Bandeirante) ZK-KIP, while approaching Auckland International Airport on the evening of 28 September 1994, experienced an undercarriage malfunction. The right main wheel could not be lowered by either normal or emergency means, and the aircraft was subsequently landed "wheels-up" at 1949 hours without injury to either of the two crew members on board. A safety issue identified was post-maintenance inspection.

On Tuesday 19 October 2004 at about 0840, express freight Train 952 collided with a stock truck and trailer at Browns Road level crossing in Dunsandel, between Rolleston and Ashburton. Flashing lights and bells protecting the level crossing were working at the time of the collision. The locomotive remained upright and on the rails but sustained major damage. The truck and trailer unit was extensively damaged. The locomotive engineer was uninjured but the truck driver suffered extensive injuries. The safety issues identified were:

[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 Saturday 5 September 2009 the Cessna 207 aircraft had been loaded with 5 passengers for a trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound. Owing to a faulty battery the aircraft would not start using the conventional key-start system.