Inquiries & Recommendations

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Overseas assistance inquiry under Section 8(2)(e) of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990, which authorises the Commission to "cooperate and coordinate with other accident investigation organisations overseas, including taking evidence on their behalf." The reported circumstances were that on 5 August 2025, the skipper of the Mollie, a New Zealand-registered recreational vessel, was seriously injured and later died when winch equipment malfunctioned. The accident occurred when the vessel was off the west coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.

The Commission is investigating an incident involving the TranzAlpine service on 5 August 2025. The reported circumstances were that the train was travelling towards Christchurch. The train had passed through Otira tunnel when the locomotive engineer reported diesel leaking onto the running board of the lead locomotive.

TAIC is investigating an accident involving a Bell 206L-3 LongRanger helicopter, registration ZK-IGD, that occurred about 15km north-west of Whakatane near Matatā at around 1500 on 27 July 2025.

TAIC is investigating an accident on board the bulk carrier Olivia. The reported circumstances were that during work on a boiler in the engine room there was an explosion or flashback, causing injury to the three crew members.

TAIC is investigating a worksite incident where a Transdev passenger train nearly collided with track workers, near Plimmerton on the North Island Main Trunk Line. The reported circumstances were that track workers were attempting to dislodge a piece of work equipment that had become stuck on the track. They managed to clear the track just before the train arrived but were unable to remove the equipment. Upon seeing the workers, the train driver applied emergency braking and successfully stopped the train before it collided with the equipment.

TAIC is investigating a collision between a freight train and a Hi-Rail vehicle. The accident occurred at about 12:42 on 6 April 2025, near the western entrance of the Kaimai Tunnel on the East Coast Main Trunk Line. The reported circumstances were that a freight train ran into a Hi-Rail vehicle that was stationary on the track. The occupants of the Hi-Rail vehicle saw the approaching train and jumped off the vehicle before impact. No injuries were reported.

The Commission is investigating a rail signal outage that occurred on 27 March at about 06:00 in the approaches to Wellington Station. The reported circumstances were that a power supply interruption resulted in a loss of electrical power to the systems that control and operate signals. This caused significant service disruption, with multiple trains subject to diversion.

Reported circumstances: a crew member suffered a serious injury when struck by a snapped rope that had been under tension. Crew members had been using the rope and a winch to retrieve lashing chains* that had fallen overboard in heavy weather in Cook Strait on board the Singapore-registered bulk carrier, M.V. Thor Nitnirund.

The Commission is investigating an incident involving a commercial jet boat in Skippers Canyon near Queenstown on 25 February 2025. The reported circumstances were that the jet boat collided with a rock face at speed. Eleven passengers were on board. Four people were reported injured and were evacuated by helicopter to Dunedin Hospital. The remaining seven passengers were transported to Queenstown Hospital for assessment.

The Commission is investigating a near-fatal incident on board the Australian-registered Fishing Vessel Antarctic Discovery at the Port of Lyttelton on 21 February 2025.

The Commission is investigating a SPAD A1 incident on the North Island Main Trunk near Westfield, Auckland at about 12:07 on 1 February 2025. The reported circumstances were that a shunt train failed to stop at a red signal and entered a section of track authorised for a passenger train that was about to enter the same main line as the shunt train. Initial evidence indicated the train stopped about 150m past the signal and was about 140m from the part of the track where it could have collided with the passenger train.