Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

The pilot was one of a group of seventh formers camping in the vicinity of a local airstrip. He and a friend left the group in the afternoon to hire an aircraft. Returning to the area, he flew two passes over the airstrip from the north east before making a third low level flight from the west up the centre-line toward his classmates on the ground. Just before reaching them he turned the aircraft to enter the valley of the Matanganui stream. Shortly afterwards witnesses observed the aircraft in a wing-over manoevre and saw it nose-dive out of sight, followed by the sound of an impact.

TAIC has published its Final Report on the immobilisation and tagging of an Auckland metropolitan passenger train in September 2017. TAIC recommended that the train operator improve training for train crews, including liaising with emergency services. A fast and efficient emergency response depends on first responders receiving clear, concise and timely information.

[Addendum to report 96-201] On Sunday, 28 January 1996, at approximately 0550 hours, the fishing trawler "San Manukau", en route from Auckland to North Cape, capsized 15 nautical miles north-north-west of Cape Karikari. One deck-hand was lost, presumed drowned. The vessel was towed into Doubtless Bay where it later sank during attempts to right it. The capsize was caused by the loss of stability due to back-flooding of the fish hold via the vessel's bilge pumping system.

On Friday 16 June 2000 at about 1515, the commercial jet boat "Huka Jet 1" with a driver and 7 passengers on board was proceeding at about 80 km/h through a section of the Waikato River known as “First Shallows” when the engine failed. As a consequence the driver lost all directional control and was unable to slow the boat. The boat collided with overhanging trees on the riverbank, slewed to the right, continued through the trees and grounded on the riverbank. Two of the passengers received minor injuries. Safety issues identified included:

A Squirrel helicopter was making a snow landing on Mt Sale in Central Otago when it struck the ground hard and finished, badly damaged, on its side. There were no fatalities; one passenger received minor injuries. The fast, low and close landing approach may have limited the pilot’s ability to confirm actual wind direction and usable escape routes. This was the fourth serious helicopter landing accident for this operator in three years.

The Monte Stello is a passenger and freight roll-on-roll-off ferry that was operating on the Cook Strait ferry service on short-term charter to Interislander, a business division of KiwiRail Limited. At about 0600 on 4 May 2011, the Monte Stello was making its entrance into Tory Channel via the eastern entrance. The bridge team comprised the master (acting as pilot), the third mate (acting as co-pilot), the helmsman, and the lookout.

[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 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 4 February 1995, Train F04 was a non-scheduled service conveying passengers from the Wellington area to Featherston for the Martinborough Fair. At 0958 hours, about 3 km into the 8.8 km tunnel, the crew noticed an engine fire on the locomotive. The Locomotive Engineer elected to shut the engine down once the train was in a position to coast clear of the tunnel. None of the crew or passengers was injured. Safety issues identified were a replacement regime for fuel header lines, and emergency response plans for the Rimutaka Tunnel.

A Hughes 269C helicopter ZK-HOB collided with power conductors near Hokitika on 13 December 1992. The safety issues discussed in the report are: the need for the Civil Aviation Authority and the New Zealand Police to have the authority to require any person to undergo the appropriate tests to determine if alcohol or drugs may have affected their ability to fly an aircraft, and the need for compliance with the Flight Manual requirement for a shoulder harness to be available for the centre seat passenger of Hughes/Schweizer 269 series helicopters.

The King of Tonga established a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the capsize and sinking of the interisland ferry MV Princess Ashika on 5 August 2009, which resulted in 74 deaths and 54 survivors. The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission was asked to conduct a technical investigation and to provide a report to the Royal Commission to consider as one component of its own inquiry.