Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

At about 1924 hours on 5 January 2009, a recreational jet-boat and personal watercraft collided almost head-on at high speed close to willow trees near the bank of the Kawarau River, Queenstown. None of the 3 persons on the jet-boat was wearing a lifejacket2, so when the driver and front-seat passenger were ejected from the boat in the collision and probably rendered unconscious, they drowned. The third person received minor injuries.

On 2 January 2009 the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu requested assistance from New Zealand in the investigation of a fatal air accident that had occurred on 19 December 2008. The request was approved and on 21 January 2009 a Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigator arrived in Vanuatu. An engineering specialist joined the team 3 days later.

On 19 December 2008, Train 5250 was an empty push/pull service being repositioned to start passenger operations when it collided with the stop block at Britomart station, Auckland. Some damage occurred to the coupler on the front of the train and the stop block, but neither the locomotive engineer (driver) nor the train manager was injured. The primary factor contributing to the collision was the failure of an electrical contactor within the

The Commission, pursuant to Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, assisted the French BEA (Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile) in their inquiry into this accident. The Commission acted as an accredited representative, representing New Zealand's interests in the inquiry. The final report can be found on the BEA website, using the link in the sidebar to the right.

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.

On 1 November 2008, a Robinson Helicopter Company R22 helicopter registered ZK-HXR, which was being flown from Haast to Wanaka with the pilot only on board, did not arrive at the Wanaka aerodrome for an intended refuel. Efforts to locate the helicopter began promptly and items from the helicopter were soon found floating in Lake Wanaka, about 22 kilometres north-west of the aerodrome. Most of the fuselage of ZK-HXR, along with the deceased pilot, was retrieved from the lake bed 4 days after the accident, but some key components were not recovered.

The Mugwop was a 5.8 metre outboard-driven rigid inflatable boat (RIB), a tender for the dredge Machiavelli, which was working on the Christchurch ocean outfall project in Pegasus Bay off Christchurch. The Mugwop was being used to transfer crew twice daily between Christchurch and the various vessels involved in the project.

On Saturday 3 October 2008, the second-to-last wagon on express freight Train 524, wagon UK9007, conveying 2 loaded liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tanks, derailed between Puketutu and Te Kuiti on the NIMT while travelling around a 260-metre (m) radius right-hand curve at the posted line speed of 60 kilometres per hour (km/h).

At about 1400 on 25 September 2008, a tour group of 22 non-English speaking overseas tourists, with a driver, departed the Queenstown Main Town Pier on what was intended to be a typical one hour jet boat excursion on the Shotover River. During the return journey the jet boat touched a sand bar at the meeting of the Shotover and Kawarau Rivers and rolled over coming to rest upside down. One passenger was trapped and drowned under the upturned boat, one other passenger suffered moderate injuries, while five other passengers suffered minor injuries. The boat received superficial damage.

A train controller starting his morning shift on 23 September 2008 unknowingly planned to direct a freight train along a line that was occupied by another freight train, which was standing awaiting routing through an area where a signalling fault was under repair. He was not aware the second train was stationary on the line. A potential low-speed, head-on collision was avoided when the first train was subsequently routed along the adjacent line after the signal failure had been partially corrected.

The Commission assisted the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of Switzerland in their investigation of this accident. The Swiss report was released 28 September 2011 and is available (in French only) on the Bureau's website using the link in the sidebar to the right. The accident was a collision with terrain after the flight, conducted under visual flight rules, was continued into instrument meteorological conditions.

On Thursday 4 September 2008 at about 0827, push/pull commuter passenger Train 9113, travelling on the Down Main North Auckland line from Waitakere to Britomart, overran Fruitvale Road Station platform. The train was travelling at 36 kilometres per hour (km/h) when it passed the end of the platform and had slowed to 31 km/h when it passed Stop and Proceed Signal 2097 displaying a Stop indication. The train was still travelling at 29 km/h when it entered Fruitvale Road level crossing, 38 metres (m) past the end of the platform and 27 m past Signal 2097.