Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On 19 February 2015 a Robinson R44 helicopter was returning to Queenstown from a training flight when it suffered a mast bump and crashed in bush near the Lochy River. The instructor and student on board were killed. The Commission investigated the accident, the cause could not be conclusively determined, and the Commission’s final report was published in August 2016. The Commission resumed the inquiry the following month after being advised of new evidence concerning the mental health of the instructor.

On Wednesday 15 March 2006 at about 1710, the auxiliary diesel engine beneath the rear car of diesel multiple unit passenger Train 3163 caught fire when lubricating oil sprayed from a loose hose connection onto the hot surface of the turbo charger. The train manager became aware of the fire when the train stopped at Manurewa station. The train was evacuated and the fire extinguished by the New Zealand Fire Service. There were no injuries.

At about 1600 on 26 April 2012, the four train control workstations in the Auckland control room located in the Wellington National Train Control Centre (train control) suddenly lost power and shut down. As a consequence, all of the signals in the Auckland metropolitan area automatically reverted to red ("Stop") and all rail movements in Auckland progressively stopped.

At about 1305 on 29 September 2009, ZK-CNS, a Piper Cherokee 6, took off from runway 28 at Great Barrier Aerodrome for a scheduled 30-minute flight to Auckland International Airport. On board were 5 passengers and the pilot.

[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 30 June 2004 at about 1530, the restricted limit passenger vessel "Esprit de Mer" with a skipper, one staff member and 7 passengers on board was returning from the Milford Deep Underwater Observatory at Harrison Cove to the ferry terminal at Milford Sound. As the boat approached the wharf, the skipper noticed black smoke coming from a port-side engine room ventilator. The boat was secured alongside and the passengers disembarked. The skipper stopped the engines and used a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher to fight the fire. The fire was extinguished almost immediately.

On Monday 28 April 2008 at about 0633, the coastal bulk carrier Anatoki was approaching Tauranga Harbour when it collided with the bulk carrier Lodestar Forest, which was departing after disembarking its pilot. At the time of the collision both vessels were navigating in restricted visibility (fog) within the compulsory pilotage area for the Port of Tauranga. There were no injuries and only minor damage to both vessels that did not affect the watertight integrity of either.

On 17 December 1999, an incident occurred near Greymouth where a locomotive engineer was given permission by train control for his train to enter a section of track already occupied by a hi-rail vehicle. The driver of the hi-rail vehicle saw the train and was able to off-track in time to avert a collision.

[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.]

Addendum to 96-009: The pilot-in-command of ZK-FMO submitted further information relating to this accident for consideration by the Commission. This information related to the effect of a misaligned contact breaker assembly arm in the dual magneto of the aircraft engine, the timing of amendments to the company operations manual, the interpretation of an instruction on the company's aircraft load sheet, the flap setting which he used for the take-off and the distribution of the load in the aircraft.

On Friday 16 November 2001, at about 0445, the yacht "Toolka-T" fouled the towline between the tug "Wainui" and barge "Sea-Tow 11" and was carried along the towline until it collided with the bow of the barge. The "Toolka-T" passed under the barge and sank as a result of the collision. The collision occurred off Takatu Point while the "Toolka-T" was southbound towards Gulf Harbour and the "Wainui" was northbound from Auckland to a sand excavation site north of Cape Rodney.

The pilot had sprayed the property, traversed by 110000 volt electrical power transmission lines, on many previous occasions. He experienced no problem during the first sortie in which the aircraft passed beneath the conductors at least six times. He then re-loaded, and made two further spray runs under the conductors. On the next run, after passing over a solitary tree, the pilot was obliged to lower the nose of the aircraft to fly beneath the conductors, prior to pulling up again beyond them to clear a stand of trees.