Inquiries & Recommendations

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Summary of the incident On 28 November 2011 a track maintenance gang arrived at the Crown Road level crossing near Paerata to relocate an 11-tonne hi-rail excavator from there to Pukekohe Station Yard about 5 kilometres (km) away. A scheduled passenger train with 7 people on board was due to pass through the Crown Road level crossing on its way to Pukekohe. The train controller had authorised an unscheduled "training shuttle" train to proceed to Pukekohe several minutes ahead of the scheduled passenger train. The training shuttle looked just like the scheduled passenger train.

On Saturday 12 November 2011 major rail infrastructure and maintenance work was underway on the section of track between Papakura and Westfield in South Auckland. One of the 2 tracks was closed for the works (the northbound track). A train controller in the national train control centre in Wellington was managing the flow of trains through the work area using the adjacent southbound track. Metropolitan passenger train services had been cancelled for the weekend to relieve congestion through the work area, but the freight train schedule was maintained.

On Monday 31 October 2011, a "super-low-floor" urban bus crossed the Beach Road level crossing at Paekakariki, 38.62 kilometres north of Wellington, and stopped at the road intersection with State Highway 1, where it became stuck. There were 3 sets of tracks at the level crossing and the bus encroached on 2 of these tracks. There were 6 passengers plus the driver on the bus.

On Saturday 29 October 2011, an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 (the aeroplane) was on a flight from Auckland to Christchurch with six crew and 128 passengers on board. The captain was the "pilot flying" and the first officer was the "pilot monitoring". A check captain was also on the flight deck. He was conducting an annual route check on the captain.

On 22 October 2011 a Britten-Norman BN.2A Mk.III-2 "Trislander" (the aeroplane) was scheduled for a scenic charter flight from Pauanui Beach aerodrome. The aeroplane was operated by Great Barrier Airlines Limited (the airline, or the operator). On board were 13 people - the pilot, another company employee and 11 passengers.

The Liberian-registered container ship Rena had left the New Zealand port of Napier at 1020 on 4 October 2011 and was bound for the New Zealand port of Tauranga. The master had given an estimated time of arrival at the Tauranga pilot station of 0300 the next day. The master calculated the estimated time of arrival by dividing the distance to go by the Rena's normal service speed. The calculation did not account for the unfavourable currents that normally prevailed down that stretch of coastline.

On 16 September 2011 an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-419, registered ZK-NBT (the aeroplane), was on approach to land at San Francisco when the crew was alerted by the crew of another aircraft that flames were coming from the number 4 engine. There was no indication on the flight deck of the condition. After an uneventful landing and shutdown, the local engineer inspected the engine in accordance with the published procedure. After some additional checking and engine running, he released the aeroplane back to service. The aeroplane completed a further 2 sectors without incident.

On 27 August 2011 the Jet Raider was making a trip from Auckland to Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf with 5 crew and 316 passengers on board. At about 11:20 the starboard engine failed catastrophically when 2 engine connecting rods broke free of the crankshaft and were ejected through the engine casing.

At about 1013 on Thursday 25 August 2011, electric multiple unit metro passenger Train 6225 (the passenger train) was travelling southbound from Waikanae to Wellington when it nearly struck 2 track workers who were repairing the track in a protected work area between Paekakariki and North Junction.

On 11 May 2011 the nose landing gear of a Piper PA31-350 Navajo Chieftain (the aeroplane) jammed in a partially retracted position during a training flight at Nelson Aerodrome. The nose landing gear could not be extended again, and in the subsequent landing the aeroplane sustained substantial damage. Neither of the 2 pilots, the only persons on board, was injured.

The Monte Stello is a passenger and freight roll-on-roll-off ferry that was operating on the Cook Strait ferry service on short-term charter to Interislander, a business division of KiwiRail Limited. At about 0600 on 4 May 2011, the Monte Stello was making its entrance into Tory Channel via the eastern entrance. The bridge team comprised the master (acting as pilot), the third mate (acting as co-pilot), the helmsman, and the lookout.

On the morning of 27 April 2011, an instructor and a student pilot in a Robinson R22 helicopter departed from Wanaka Aerodrome on a cross-country training flight through part of the Southern Alps.