Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Tuesday 14 January 2003, at about 2220, Life Flight Trust BK-117 helicopter ZK-III was on a night VFR flight from Wellington Hospital to Masterton Hospital to pick up an injured patient for an emergency medical transfer. After inadvertently overflying a waypoint by a short distance towards high terrain, the pilot began an emergency climb through cloud. During this climb the helicopter collided with trees, but was flown on to an emergency landing at Masterton. The helicopter sustained substantial damage, and the pilot received a serious hand injury. The other occupants were uninjured.

On Tuesday, 7 January 2003, at about 1928, a passenger who had alighted from an electric multiple unit train at Paekakariki was injured as she got down off a wagon of an express freight train. The freight train was berthed at the platform at Paekakariki and blocking access via a pedestrian crossing over the railway line to the public car park. The injured passenger was one of a number of passengers who climbed over the flat deck wagon to gain access to the car park beyond. The passenger suffered a serious ankle injury, which required hospital treatment.

On Wednesday 18 December 2002 at about 2230, northbound express freight Train 220 was approaching Rukuhia when dragging brake gear on a wagon near the middle of the train hit the spreader bar of the south-end turnout. As a result of the impact, the train parted and 11 wagons derailed. Safety issues identified included: · the limitations of the fulcrum pin connecting the brake vertical lever to the brake beam · the absence of a safety wire to support the push rod in the event of a failure.

On Tuesday 17 December 2002, at 2036, ZK-TZC, a twin engine Piper PA31-325 Navajo, took off from Feilding Aerodrome on a visual flight rules flight to Paraparaumu. The pilot and his 2 young sons were on board.

[No TAIC report published. As this was an incident involving a NZ-registered aircraft over the territory of an overseas State, TAIC provided an accredited representative under ICAO Annex 13 and assisted with some local information. For a full report on the incident, refer to Australian Transportation Safety Bureau report 200205780 "In-flight uncontained engine failure and air turn-back, Boeing 767-219ER, ZK-NBC".]

On 29 August 2002, an incident occurred at Maimai when a locomotive engineer was authorised by train control to enter a section of track already occupied by a rail contractor. The locomotive engineer saw the contractor and stopped the train short of the work site.

On 29 August 2002, an incident occurred at Maimai when a locomotive engineer was authorised by train control to enter a section of track already occupied by a rail contractor. The locomotive engineer saw the contractor and stopped the train short of the work site.

On Thursday 21 November 2002 at about 0938, the bulk cement carrier "Westport" collided stern first with the Old Mangere Bridge when the controllable pitch propeller mechanism failed during departure from Onehunga. Both the ship and the bridge suffered extensive damage. The safety issues identified included: · the adequacy of knowledge of default conditions for the system · the adequacy of knowledge of correct operating pressures for the controllable pitch propeller. Safety recommendations were made to the General Manager of Holcim (New Zealand) Limited to address the safety issues.

On Wednesday 12 June 2002 at about 1308, a partially-sighted passenger fell from the doorway of Train 2643 while alighting at Silverstream. The train, an Upper Hutt to Wellington Tranz Metro electric multiple unit service, had stopped at the platform but the last doorway of the rear passenger car, from which the passenger fell, was positioned off the north end of the platform. The passenger suffered serious injuries that required hospital treatment. The safety issue identified was the berthing of electric multiple unit passenger services at suburban stations.

On Monday 18 November 2002, a hi-rail vehicle overran its track authority from Westmere Intermediate Board to Symes Road Intermediate Board on the Marton-New Plymouth Line and continued a further 28.3 km to Brewer Road Intermediate Board. The operator of the hi-rail vehicle had intended to proceed to Brewer Road but mistakenly made reference to Symes Road when seeking authority from the train controller. There was no conflicting track occupancy between Symes Road Intermediate Board and Brewer Road Intermediate Board. The safety issues identified were:

On Sunday, 17 November 2002, at about 2353, Train 526, a Palmerston North to New Plymouth express freight service overran its track warrant limit at Waitotara by about 1.5 km. The incident occurred when the locomotive engineer did not identify and stop at the limit of his track warrant authority but continued on into the next section. There was no opposing traffic. The major contribution factor to the incident was the probability that the locomotive engineer lost concentration and situational awareness, which supported a misperception of the limits of the track warrant he held.

[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.]