Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Friday, 9 March 2001 at 0922, ZK-RCA, a Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III operating as NZ 2703 from Auckland, struck a flock of birds on landing at Tauranga Aerodrome. During the ground roll the left-hand engine failed and the aircraft was brought to a halt to complete the engine shutdown checklist. While taxiing to the terminal the right-hand engine spooled down. The 16 passengers were disembarked and the aircraft was towed to the terminal. ZK-RCA’s left-hand engine was replaced and the aircraft returned to service after 3 days. There were no injuries.

On Saturday 8 November 2008, eastbound express freight Train 848, conveying 30 loaded coal wagons, overran the fouling board2 on the main line during a scheduled crossing movement at Cass Station on the Midland Line. Westbound express freight Train 845 entered the loop before the locomotive engineer on Train 848 radioed to confirm that he had stopped his train short of the fouling board.

The ship hit a rock after different understandings between the harbour pilot and master led to a turn being taken late. Safety issues identified related to: the standard of bridge resource management, difficulties integrating the port and harbour risk assessments, and inadequacy of counting launch transits towards pilot proficiency for large ship transits through Tory Channel. Urgent recommendations were made in 2016.

On Thursday 6 October 2005 at 1451, the locomotive engineer of empty passenger Train 4356 was unable to operate fully the automatic air brake valve to stop the train at a conditional stop board erected at the entrance to an infrastructure work area near Meadowbank. The locomotive engineer operated an emergency brake button instead, but the train overran a conditional stop board by about 170 metres. There was no damage or injuries. Safety issues identified included: • the procurement, inspection and maintenance of safety-critical components

On Thursday 1 September 2005 at about 1625, a rake of 6 wagons that was left unattended on the Down main line during a shunting movement within station limits at Mercer, ran away to the south. The wagons were stopped after they had travelled about 450 metres towards Koheroa Road level crossing. Favourable track gradients and the actions of a staff member prevented the wagons rolling any further. There were no injuries or equipment damage. Safety issues identified included: • the training, certification and assessment processes for new personnel

On Thursday 7 July 2005 at 0852, the pilot of ZK-MSL, a Piper PA34 Seneca II, intentionally landed the aircraft at Napier Aerodrome with the landing gear retracted after both normal and emergency procedures failed to extend the nose landing gear. The pilot and the sole passenger were not injured. Aircraft damage was largely confined to the propellers.

On Thursday 16 January 2003, at about 1743, the passenger ferry "Harbour Cat" was proceeding from Birkenhead to Auckland with 3 crew and 2 passengers on board when a fire was discovered in the starboard engine space. The crew extinguished the fire and the ferry continued to the Auckland ferry terminal on its port engine alone. One of the crew suffered from slight smoke inhalation. Safety issues identified included: * access to engine rooms on passenger ferries * adequacy of procedure and training of ships’ crew in tackling engine space fires.

On Thursday 20 January 2005, at about 0744, UK 3083, the eighth wagon on Train 237, an Auckland to Wellington express freight service, derailed as the train passed through the north end of Hunterville on the North Island Main Trunk. The train travelled a further 1100 m until the derailed wagon struck the curved closer rail at the south end points at Hunterville, derailing 3 other wagons and uncoupling the air brake system, which brought the train to a stop. There were no injuries. The safety issue identified was the compatibility of current track and mechanical tolerances.

At about 1620 hours on Tuesday 28 May 1996, a Papatoetoe passenger with a baby in a pushchair boarded a Waitakere train by mistake at Newmarket Station. She alighted from the train at Boston Road Station, where the train had made an unscheduled stop. The pushchair was trapped in the doors and the train moved a short distance. The passenger rescued the baby from the pushchair before the train stopped under emergency braking. A number of contributory factors were identified, but no single cause.

[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.]

On 13 May 2004, a party of 18 passengers hired 2 jet boats to take them for a trip on Waimakariri River, north of Christchurch. At the conclusion of the trip, at about 1700, while the driver of CYS was manoeuvring back onto the boat's trailer, the reverse duct jammed in the down, or astern, position. The driver tried to rectify the problem, but the boat was caught in the swift flowing current and was swept towards a motorway bridge, less than 100 m downstream. The driver tried to manoeuvre the boat, but he was unsuccessful and it collided with one of the bridge supporting piers.