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.
Incident date: Publish date:On Saturday 18 December 1999 at about 1524 hours, ZK-HYE, a Hughes 269C helicopter, was on a private local scenic flight about 3 nautical miles north of Kawerau. Approaching to land, the helicopter struck a power line and impacted the ground nearly inverted. The pilot and 2 passengers died as a result of the accident and the resulting fire destroyed most of the helicopter. No new safety issues were identified during the investigation.
Incident date: Publish date:At approximately 1630 hours on Friday 17 December 1999, a rake of wagons being propelled from Fletcher Paper private siding in Mt Maunganui derailed as a result of being pushed over a derailing block. The wagons slewed from the track and crossed a public road level crossing before colliding with a building and coming to rest on the opposite side of the road. The safety deficiencies identified included: • the use of motorcycles by staff during shunting of sidings • the lack of formalisation of local speed limits • the positioning of staff during the propelling movement.
Incident date: Publish date:[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.]
Incident date: Publish date:At approximately 1010 hours on Wednesday 24 November 1999, the Wellington to Auckland Overlander passenger express, Train 200, proceeded past a conditional stop board between Ohau and Levin without authority. Some 5 kilometres later Train 200 unexpectedly met a track maintenance gang, which had just cleared the track to allow the passage of the train. There were no injuries. The safety issues identified were: • the incomplete radio procedures for communication between locomotive engineers and track gangs working under conditional stop board protection
Incident date: Publish date:On Thursday 21 October 1999 at about 1810, jet boat "Shotover 14" entered the first canyon on the Upper Shotover River with the driver and 9 passengers on board, travelling at about 65 km/h. While travelling close to the left side of the canyon a component in the steering system caught on a bracket, preventing the driver from steering to the right.
Incident date: Publish date:[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.]
Incident date: Publish date:[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.]
Incident date: Publish date:On Thursday 21 October 1999 at about 1810, jet boat "Shotover 14" entered the first canyon on the Upper Shotover River with the driver and 9 passengers on board, travelling at about 65 km/h. While travelling close to the left side of the canyon a component in the steering system caught on a bracket, preventing the driver from steering to the right.
Incident date: Publish date:At about 0702 hours on Wednesday, 20 October 1999 Train 938, a northbound express freight, collided with Train 919, a southbound intercity express freight, which was stationary on the main line within station limits at Waipahi on the Main South Line. The locomotive engineer of Train 919 was fatally injured, and the locomotive engineer of Train 938 was seriously injured. The two locomotives on Train 919 and the single locomotive on Train 938 were extensively damaged, as were a number of wagons and containers.
Incident date: Publish date:Addendum to 99-122: Following the publication of Railway Occurrence Report 99-122 the Commission received additional information based on a new recorded departure time of Train 919 from Clinton. This strengthened some previously expressed concerns at the interpretation which could be placed on sections of the report covering actions open to the locomotive engineer of Train 919 (LE2) on the day.
Incident date: Publish date:At approximately 0700 hours on Friday, 1 October 1999, a rail operator fell from a slow moving wagon during shunting operations at Stillwater, when a handgrip detached as he was boarding the wagon. The rail operator fell backwards away from the wagon and landed alongside the track, sustaining minor injuries as a result. The safety issues identified included: • the inability of the inspection regime to identify the defective handgrip • the unreported damage to, and unauthorised reinstatement of, handgrips arising from load handling and inappropriate shunting methods
Incident date: Publish date: