Inquiries & Recommendations

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[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.]

[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.]

On Wednesday 21 March 2007, passenger express Train 200 collided with the rear of stationary passenger express Train 201 during a planned setback manoeuvre at National Park when radio communication failed. One passenger travelling in the rear passenger carriage on Train 200 received a minor injury. The buffer at the rear of the train was damaged.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigated this accident on behalf of TAIC. Using the link in the sidebar to the right.

In the early morning of 7 March 2007, while fishing about 195 nm off the west coast of the North Island, the longline fishing vessel Walara-K took on water in its engine room and sank in 500 m of water within 3 hours. The 3 crew members were able to abandon ship into a liferaft from which they were rescued within 6 hours. The vessel was not recovered. The loss of the vessel and the absence of key documents have resulted in the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (the Commission) being unable to determine the exact reason for the ship

Between March 2007 and October 2009 there were 5 derailments involving container wagons conveying single 6-metre (m) containers loaded with bulk grain, positioned on the leading ends of the wagons. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (the Commission) combined the events into a single inquiry.

On Thursday 22 February 2007 at about 2200, the passenger vessel Cruise Cat collided with the outer starboard-hand light beacon at the entrance to the Waikato River at the northern end of Lake Taupo when returning from an evening dinner cruise with 90 passengers and 4 crew on board. After the skipper had checked the watertight integrity of the vessel and the passengers for injuries the Cruise Cat was returned to its berth at Taupo Marina where all the passengers were discharged without further incident.

On Friday 5 January 2007, at about 2200, the leading bogie of UK6765, the rear wagon on Christchurch to Picton express freight Train 736, derailed at 309.643 kilometres (km) on the Main North Line. The derailed wagon was dragged a further 3.5 km until it struck the south end main line points at Vernon, derailing the wagon immediately in front. The derailed wagons were pulled another kilometre before the locomotive engineer became aware of the derailed wagons and brought the train to a stop. There were no injuries.

On 30 December 2006, a fire occurred in the left General Electric CF6-80C2 engine nacelle of a Boeing 767 aircraft as it taxied clear of the runway after landing at Auckland International Airport. The fire was promptly extinguished and the minor damage was confined within the nacelle.

On Thursday 21 December 2006, Piper PA23-250-E, registration Aztec ZK-PIW, was part-way through a training flight when after an intermediate landing the pilots observed an indication warning of a possible fault with the nose landing gear. The fault was rectified and the aircraft diverted to Ardmore at the request of an engineer. During the flight to Ardmore, a second landing gear indication fault occurred, this time with the right landing gear.

On 11 December 2006, a Kawasaki-Hughes 369HS helicopter, registered ZK-HDJ, took off with the pilot and 4 passengers on board from near Crater Lake on Mount Ruapehu, at an elevation of about 8300 feet. The pilot could not climb the helicopter above the surrounding terrain, so he descended towards the lake to accelerate the helicopter towards its best-angle-of-climb speed. The helicopter hit the lake surface and came to rest on the shore of the lake. All of the occupants were injured and the helicopter was destroyed. Safety issues identified included:

On Sunday 10 December 2006 at about 1230, the fishing vessel Santa Maria II with a skipper, 4 crew members and a Ministry of Fisheries observer on board was fishing off the Kermadec Islands in Fisheries Management Area 10 when a fire was discovered in the engine room. The skipper issued a distress message while the rest of the crew sealed the engine room and attempted to discharge fire suppressant into the engine room.