Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Friday 12 January and Thursday 18 January 1996, Metroliners ZK-POB and ZK-SDA respectively were involved in runway excursions after the pilot flying engaged the nosewheel steering during their landing runs. No injuries were sustained in either event and the damage to the aircraft was minor.

On Monday 8 January 1996 Train 701, the southbound "Coastal Pacific" passenger service, overran Waipara without a valid track warrant and continued approximately 24 kms 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 Train 701 continued its journey. The causal factor was the Locomotive Engineer's failure to recognise the limits of his authority to proceed.

At about 1200 hours on Tuesday 2 January 1996 the pilot commenced a take-off on vector 29 at Wanaka Aerodrome, in Mark 14 Spitfire ZK-XIV. During the take-off the aircraft swung to the right, diverged from the grass vector, and became airborne but the tail caught the aerodrome boundary fence. The aircraft rolled to the right and struck the ground inverted. The pilot was seriously injured in the accident.

[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.]

At 1210 hours on Monday 18 December 1995, a Hi-Rail vehicle and a light inspection vehicle collided head-on on a curve near Maxwell, on the Marton - New Plymouth Line. The driver of one of the vehicles sustained rib fractures in the collision, but the two occupants of the other vehicle were uninjured. The cause of the accident was the unauthorised presence of one of the vehicles on that section of line. No specific safety issues were identified as a result of this investigation.

On Wednesday, 13 December 1995 at about 1557 hours Train 2650, comprising two Ganz Mavàg electric multiple units running from Wellington to Upper Hutt, derailed while departing Taita Station. The derailed car, EM 1494, was second in the four car consist and all four wheels of the trailing bogie derailed. There were no injuries. The cause was the separation of the tyre from a wheel on EM 1494.

On Monday 11 December 1995 at about 0800 hours 20 LPA wagons loaded with roading aggregate rolled out of the loop at Raupunga onto the main line and ran down a 1 in 50 grade to Maungaturanga viaduct approximately 1.5 kilometres away. A painting gang working on the viaduct were forced to take urgent evasive action. The wagons came to rest a further 1 kilometre away on a 1 in 50 ascending grade and rolled back to the bridge. The causal factor of the main line runaway was unloading wagons on a crossing loop on a grade with no protection to stop runaway wagons entering the main line.

At approximately 2025 hours on Saturday, 9 December 1995, during a deer hunting sortie, the shooter, suspended on a strop beneath R22 helicopter ZK-HUH, fell onto a hard sand beach when the cargo hook opened unexpectedly. The shooter sustained severe internal injuries and died that evening. No definitive cause was established for the opening of the cargo hook. Civil Aviation Authority approval had not been sought for the carriage of a person on the strop, and special conditions to enhance the safety of a person so carried were not in place.

On Monday 4 December 1995 at approximately 2010 hours a shooter fell from a Robinson R22 helicopter, ZK-HDD, during an airborne deer hunting operation 18 km north of Karamea, and sustained fatal injuries. The probable cause of the accident was the opening of the karabiner used on the shooter's harness arrangement, by equipment or clothing, thereby causing him to become unrestrained in the helicopter. The safety issue identified is the need to have a restraint system which incorporates safety features to guard against inadvertent release.

[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, 27 November 1995 at approximately 1600 hours, during a summer white water rafting trip down the Shotover River near Queenstown a raft capsized and one of the passengers drowned. Safety issues identified included the difficulty rafting operators have in conveying the nature of white water rafting to non-English speaking passengers. It was recommended that the proposed Commercial White Water Rafting Code of Practice include a requirement for raft operators to show passengers an audio-visual summary of the demands of the rafting experience before they embark on the trip.