Inquiries & Recommendations

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On Wednesday 31 July 2002, at about 1040, express freight Train 328 passed 6 Signal, Te Rapa, at stop. The train then ran through No. 2 points at Te Rapa, set in the reverse position, and travelled a further 9 km on the North Island Main Trunk up main before being stopped at Horotiu. A hi-rail excavator working on track between Te Rapa and Horotiu had just cleared the track before the train passed through the work area. A safety issue identified was the probable fatigue-related performance impairment of the locomotive engineer leading to his loss of situational awareness.

On Saturday 1 July 2000 at 1457, Great Barrier Airlines PA 32 aeroplane ZK-DSQ was on a charter flight to Great Mercury Island with 4 passengers when it overran the uphill grass runway on landing. No injury occurred, but the aircraft was substantially damaged. The overrun resulted from excessive tailwind, and the pilot’s decision to land was probably based on an incorrect assessment of the tailwind component on the runway. Safety issues identified include: • the definition of the tailwind limitation in the airline’s operations manual

On Friday 13 February 2004 at about 2220, the restricted limit passenger vessel "Queenstown Princess" with 17 passengers and 2 crew on board grounded on the western side of the southern arm of Lake Wakatipu while returning from an evening cruise. Three passengers received minor injuries.

On Friday 24 March 2000 at 1019 hours, ZK-FPL, a Piper PA31T3-T1040, landed on runway 18 at Taupo Aerodrome with its undercarriage retracted. The 10 passengers and the pilot on board the aircraft were not injured.

[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.]

During a stream landing at Hamilton Aerodrome the pilot of one aircraft initiated a swerve to increase the separation of his aircraft from the one in front. The swerve developed into a ground loop in which the aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The purpose of the flight was to land a passenger and gear beside a mountain lake at an elevation of 5300 feet amsl. On short final approach the pilot found that on losing transitional lift the rotor rpm began to decay, and she was unable to arrest the sink. An attempt to make a controlled landing on lower, uneven, ground was unsuccessful. The left skid collapsed and the helicopter rolled over. Neither occupant was injured.

During a pleasure flight with a friend as passenger the pilot began to feel unwell. His symptoms of illness intensified quickly and realising he might become incapacitated the pilot reduced engine power and trimmed the aircraft for a slow descent. Witnesses saw the aircraft in a moderate descending left turn which continued until it collided with the sea some 50 m off Takapuna Beach. The pilot, who was seriously injured, regained consciousness underwater. Despite rescue attempts by the pilot, and others who arrived within a few minutes, the passenger drowned.

On the rail bridge between Dalefield and Featherston on the Wairarapa Line, an empty passenger train nearly ran into an excavator work group. The train driver saw the work group and stopped the train in time. Nobody was hurt. The Commission found that KiwiRail processes were not entirely followed, leading to Train Control being wrongly under the impression that the worksite was clear. The Rail Protection Officer’s fatigue and sleep inertia where other likely factors.

Morningside Station in Auckland consists of an 'island platform' where the northbound and southbound rail tracks pass either side of the platform. At one end of the platform pedestrians have to walk down a fenced ramp to join a pedestrian level crossing, which is part of the Morningside Drive road level crossing. At the bottom of the platform ramp pedestrians have to turn either left or right to cross the relevant rail track.

On Tuesday 3 September 2013 an express freight train operated by KiwiRail was travelling from Tauranga to Auckland. The train consisted of a single locomotive hauling 36 wagons, 14 of which were conveying hazardous goods. At about 0300, as the train was approaching Mercer, a wheel-bearing on the 20th wagon behind the locomotive failed, resulting in that wagon derailing and tipping onto the adjacent southbound track. The following two wagons also derailed, one of them spilling its container and contents onto the adjacent State Highway One Expressway.

Following a high reconnaissance, the pilot positioned the helicopter on final approach into the 25-30 north-westerly wind. Tailwind gust experienced at 50 feet, when the aircraft began to sink. Pilot initiated an overshoot during which the helicopter descended 5-10 feet above the landing site and commenced a right turn towards lower ground. Aircraft continued to descend and struck some trees before coming to rest on its right hand side.