Inquiries & Recommendations

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On Wednesday, 13 August 2008 at 0941, express freight Train 845, a westbound Lyttelton to Ngakawau empty coal service, overran its track warrant limit at Reefton. The locomotive engineer continued to drive the train for a further 8.75 kilometres before he realised what had happened and stopped the train. There were no conflicting movements or track engineering occupations.

On 11 August 2008, a Kawasaki-Hughes 369D helicopter, registered ZK-HWE, departed Haast in support of a Department of Conservation track-maintenance task. On board were 3 track workers, the pilot and over 150 kilograms of equipment. The pilot had flown a similar series of flights during the previous week.

On 8 and 9 August 2008, the roll-on/roll-off passenger and freight ferry Monte Stello was involved in 2 berthing occurrences: the first a collision with the floating pontoon at its berth in Picton, and the second a collision with the end of Glasgow Wharf where it was to berth in Wellington.

TAIC assisted the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau with its inquiry into this occurrence. Report can be found using the link in the sidebar to the right.

At about 0300 on 27 July 2008 the fishing vessel San Cuvier dragged its anchor and grounded on rocks close to Tarakeha Point to the east of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty. The skipper drowned and another crew member was missing presumed drowned after they attempted to abandon the vessel. Another 2 crew members survived by scaling the rocks close to the stricken vessel. The forecast for the area was for storm-force winds and a heavy swell from the north. Awaawakino, where the vessel was anchored, was not a suitable anchorage for the predicted and actual weather conditions.

On Monday 14 April 2008, a brake pad calliper fell from a wheel set on the fourth car of a DMU passenger train at Sylvia Park. The brake calliper fell across the rail and derailed one wheel set on the train. The train was stopped, but not before the wheel set, plus another that subsequently derailed, had re-railed. The brake calliper fell because the securing key had either failed or worked loose.

On the evening of Thursday 23 July 2009, the Wellington region was experiencing a storm that brought heavy rain and strong winds. At 1817, a scheduled commuter train travelling from Wellington to Masterton with approximately 240 passengers and crew in 5 carriages, collided with a slip that partially blocked the northern portal of Tunnel 1 on the Wairarapa Line. This point was about 4 km north of Upper Hutt station and about 1 km before the Maymorn station.

Between 21 June 2008 and 7 May 2009, 3 express freight trains derailed at various locations on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) line. All 3 derailments were caused by the failure and collapse of bogie side frames on wagons. The side frame failures were all similar in that they started with a fatigue crack that propagated over a period of days rather than weeks, through the box section of the side frame, until the remaining material failed in overload during normal train operations.

Distraction by cellphone and excessive speed within a speed restricted area were the major factors contributing to the fatal collision on 20 June 2008 in Waikawa Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, of the 6 metre aluminium workboat Shikari with the stern of the moored Flightless, a 27 metre private vessel. The Shikari’s skipper and one passenger died, 3 passengers received serious injuries, and the remaining passenger suffered minor injury. Nobody was aboard the Flightless.

On 21 August 2008 the Commission declared that this occurrence does not meet the test of section 13(1) (b) of the TAIC Act, and approved closing the investigation without publishing a report.

On Monday 14 April 2008, a brake pad calliper fell from a wheel set on the fourth car of a DMU passenger train at Sylvia Park. The brake calliper fell across the rail and derailed one wheel set on the train. The train was stopped, but not before the wheel set, plus another that subsequently derailed, had re-railed. The brake calliper fell because the securing key had either failed or worked loose.

[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.]