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.]

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.

On Friday, 17 May 1996, at about 0845 hours, a truck and semi-trailer travelling east on Kirk Road, Templeton moved over the level crossing and stopped to gain entry to State Highway 1 with the semi-trailer foul of the railway line. The Southerner passenger express collided with the rear of the semi-trailer unit. There were no injuries. The cause was insufficient stacking room between the level crossing and the adjacent parallel State Highway.

At 1009 hours on Friday, 10 May 1996, Tranz Rail Limited's Shunt L8, northbound from Westfield to Henderson, collided with a Hi-Rail vehicle near St George's Street on the North Auckland Line. The driver of the Hi-Rail vehicle had time to jump from the vehicle and no injuries were sustained. The cause of the collision was inappropriate authorisation for the progress of Shunt L8.

On Saturday, 4 May 1996, at approximately 1530 hours, the driver of a passenger jet boat, whilst attempting a high-speed close encounter with a rock face at Highcliffs on the Kawarau River, glanced the boat off a rock outcrop and the boat collided, head on, with the cliff face. The driver and four passengers received minor to serious injuries in the collision. Causal factors included an error of judgement by the jet boat driver. The driver's last-minute attempt to abort the manoeuvre was a contributing factor to the collision.

At 1030 hours on Thursday 2 May 1996, two Hi-Rail vehicles collided on a curve near Kotemaori on the Palmerston North-Gisborne Line. The four occupants of the vehicles were uninjured. The cause of the collision was insufficient information available to the employee in charge of one of the Hi-Rail vehicles.

On Thursday, 4 April 1996, at approximately 2015 hours, when the high speed passenger ferry "Strait Runner" was outbound from Mana, she was hit by strong winds associated with a heavy rain squall, causing the vessel to ground on a gravel bank outside the main channel. The vessel sustained damage to her three propellers. Factors contributing to the grounding included a loss of situational awareness by the Master. A safety issue identified was the inadequacy of the harbour navigation aids for "Strait Runner"to depart at night.

At 1306 hours on Sunday 31 March 1996, the pilot of Robinson R44 ZK-HJD called Gisborne Tower, reporting 20 miles south for joining instructions. Low cloud, poor visibility and gale-force winds prevailed at the time. When the helicopter failed to arrive at Gisborne, Search and Rescue action was initiated, and the pilot's body and some helicopter wreckage were found the next morning at Muriwai Beach, 5.5 nm south of Gisborne Airport. It was evident that the helicopter had flown into the sea, but no definitive cause was established.

A utility travelling west on Victoria Street, Waipawa on Wednesday 27 March 1996 moved onto the level crossing ahead of an approaching train. The level crossing alarms, consisting of flashing lights and bells, were operating. A collision resulted in which injuries sustained by the driver and front seat passenger subsequently proved fatal. The causal factor was the utility driver's apparent failure to see and respond to the warning devices. Safety issues identified were the effectiveness of the warning system in particular sunlight conditions and the available view at the crossing.

At about 1520 hours on Saturday 16 March 1996, Cessna 172 ZK-CGE took off from Mandeville Aerodrome on a private flight to Big Bay. The aeroplane did not gain sufficient altitude after take-off to clear a line of willow trees some 500 m from the departure end of the runway, and collided with the trees, killing the pilot. The three passengers sustained minor injuries. The aeroplane was found to have been operated at a weight 136 kg in excess of the maximum permitted all-up weight, which degraded the take-off performance sufficiently to cause the collision with the trees.