Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

[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.]

[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 Monday, 29 July 1996, at approximately 2230 hours, the fishing vessel "Avenger" was reported overdue on a trip from Preservation Inlet to Riverton. A search conducted at first light the following day located the bodies of the two crew members amongst flotsam from the vessel. The vessel was not recovered and the cause of its sinking was not identified conclusively. A safety issue identified was the seaworthiness of the "Avenger", which was not required to be surveyed.

On Saturday 6 July 1996, Hughes 269C ZK-HVV was engaged in a series of NZ Army reconnaissance flights in an area between Waiouru and Taihape. When the helicopter failed to return from its last flight, a search was initiated and the wreckage of ZK-HVV was found some 900 m from the operating site. The pilot and one of the two passengers were killed and the second passenger seriously injured. The helicopter had collided with the ground while being operated at low level. Local loss of depth perception due to snow cover was a probable contributing factor. No new safety issues were raised.

[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, 25 June 1996, at approximately 1420 hours, a rock-fishing charter group of six passengers and one guide was returning to the beach from where they had launched in the "Hunky Dory", a 5.5m aluminium dory, when the craft was overwhelmed by seas and foundered. Five of the passengers swam for the shore. Four succeeded and raised the alarm. The fifth swimmer, after spending nine hours in the water, succumbed to exhaustion and drowned. The design, loading and corresponding freeboard of the craft combined with the sea conditions were factors contributing to the foundering.

On Thursday, 13 June 1996 at about 1035 hours Train 401, the southbound Geyserland Express passenger service, struck and killed a signal maintainer working alongside the track. The causes were the signal maintainer's lack of awareness of the train's approach and the absence of any warning to the locomotive engineer of the presence of this staff member. A safety issue identified was the need for the wearing of high-visibility clothing by all staff in such situations to be mandatory.

[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.]

At about 0945 hours on Friday 7 June 1996, a depot staff member, while piloting a DFT locomotive at Westfield, fell from the front cowcatcher step. He had given an unexpected "stop" hand signal to the driver, who responded with an immediate full brake application, and the resulting decelerative forces probably caused the pilot to overbalance and lose his grip. The pilot was run over by the locomotive's cowcatcher, sustaining serious injuries from which he died six days later.

On Friday, 31 May 1996, at about 2034 hours Train 404, the Rotorua - Auckland Geyserland Express, derailed at slow speed while crossing from the East Passenger Loop to the West Loop at Hamilton. There were no injuries. The cause of the derailment was an axle failure on the trailing axle of the railcar. Safety issues identified were the need to improve the inspection and testing regime for Silver Fern axles.

At about 1620 hours on Tuesday 28 May 1996, a Papatoetoe passenger with a baby in a pushchair boarded a Waitakere train by mistake at Newmarket Station. She alighted from the train at Boston Road Station, where the train had made an unscheduled stop. The pushchair was trapped in the doors and the train moved a short distance. The passenger rescued the baby from the pushchair before the train stopped under emergency braking. A number of contributory factors were identified, but no single cause.