Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Thursday 18 March 1999 at about 1645 hours, ZK-DOA, a Cessna 206 on an aerial surveillance air transport flight around Pitt Island, had a sudden engine failure and ditched in the sea. The pilot and four passengers escaped from the aircraft and swam to shore without the aid of life-jackets. Life-jackets were on board the aircraft for the occupants' use but there was insufficient time for them to locate and don the jackets. The aircraft was not recovered from the sea and the cause of the engine failure was not established.

On Wednesday 11 March 1999, at approximately 1120 hours, a head-on collision occurred between the middle ferry shunt and the siding shunt at Wellington ferry terminal. The locomotive engineer's seat in the siding shunt locomotive was torn from its mountings, and the locomotive engineer was propelled to the front of the cab, sustaining lacerations and concussion. Two shunters riding on the leading ends of their respective shunts were able to jump clear before the collision. The safety deficiencies identified included:

On Tuesday 9 March 1999, Train 523, a southbound New Plymouth to Palmerston North express freight, overran Whangaehu without a valid track warrant and continued approximately 18 km into the next section before the error was realised. There was no opposing traffic or obstruction and once the overrun was discovered a valid warrant was issued and a relief locomotive engineer completed the remainder of the journey. The overrun resulted from a lapse in concentration by the locomotive engineer.

At approximately 2240 hours on Thursday, 25 February 1999, Train 230, a northbound express freight, was travelling on the up main just south of McKays Crossing when dragging brake gear on a wagon near the centre of the train hit the spreader bar of the safety turnout where the line converged to single track. The impact caused the facing points to open and derail 19 of the following wagons. The derailment brought down part of the 1500V overhead traction line and blocked State Highway 1. Fatigue breaks in a brake beam assembly caused it to fail allowing the brake gear to drop.

On Wednesday, 24 February 1999 at about 0640, the passenger and freight ferry "Aratere", with 221 passengers and 33 crew on board, was proceeding past Point Halswell in Wellington Harbour at the beginning of a scheduled service to Picton, when the vessel suffered a series of power failures that eventually left it adrift without power. The emergency generator that was designed to supply power to essential services also failed.

At about 2135 on Friday, 12 February 1999, the bulk woodchip carrier "Prince of Tokyo" was outward bound with 20 crew and a harbour pilot on board when it grounded on the western mole at the entrance to Port Otago harbour. The grounding occurred when the bridge team became distracted and were not monitoring the progress of the vessel. Initial attempts to re-float the vessel were unsuccessful. It was eventually re-floated with the assistance of 3 tugs on Sunday, 14 February 1999. There were no injuries, but the vessel suffered extensive underwater damage.

At about 0100 on Monday, 28 December 1998, the container vessel "Gao Cheng" was entering the Port of Nelson with a pilot on board and two tugs in attendance. As the vessel was approaching the entrance to the harbour the pilot reportedly suffered a sudden loss of vision in his right eye.

On Tuesday, 15 December 1998, at about 1510, the Ukraine registered fishing vessel "Meridian 1" was steaming off Bluff when it grounded on Anchor Ridge close outside Bluff Harbour entrance. The grounding happened when the watchkeeping officer was distracted and failed to adequately monitor the progress of the vessel. After the grounding a Southport (NZ) Limited pilot boarded "Meridian 1" and with the assistance of the 2 harbour tugs, Meridian 1 was refloated and towed into Bluff to assess the damage. No one was injured due to the grounding but "Meridian 1" suffered minor damage.

[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 Tuesday, 8 December 1998, at about 1635, the Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard rigid inflatable vessel "Rescue 1" was responding to a Mayday call from a vessel near Motiti Island when it suffered a failure of the outer covers that secured the buoyancy bladders to the hull. The two starboard bladders separated from the hull and the port forward bladder deflated. The vessel continued to Motiti Island and attended the rescue before returning to Tauranga. There were no injuries. Safety issues identified included:

At about 2125 hours on Friday 4 December 1998, a loss of separation occurred between an Air New Zealand Boeing 767 and a Sunair Piper Aztec near Auckland Airport. Both aircraft were under radar control at the time of the incident. The Boeing 767, on departure from Auckland, was intercepting the Auckland - Rarotonga track and climbing to flight level 250. The Piper Aztec was en route from Hamilton to Whangarei via Auckland, maintaining 7000 feet. The pilot of the Piper Aztec saw the Boeing 767 closing from the left and descended to ensure separation.

[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.]