Inquiries & Recommendations

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On 11 June 1994 the student pilot was authorised for a period of practice aerobatics. He decided to fly over a friend's house and lost control during a steep turn at low level and the aircraft collided with the ground.

The pilot was operating from a sloping airstrip situated on a ridge. Approximately half the contract had been completed and fertiliser loads were being progressively increased. During take-off an engine malfunction may have caused the pilot to briefly apply the brakes. The take-off roll was longer than normal and the mainwheels entered shrubbery at the end of the airstrip. The aircraft pitched steeply nose up, stalled, and dived into the trees, seriously injuring the pilot.

The Commission is providing New Zealand’s Accredited Representative participating in the Indonesia National Transportation Committee’s investigation of a fatal accident involving a New Zealand-manufactured Pacific Aerospace Ltd 750XL aeroplane

The aircraft collided with trees immediately after taking off from a farm airstrip. The aircraft descended into a bush clad gully and caught fire. The pilot succeeded in vacating the cockpit but received extensive burns. He died in hospital 14 days after the accident.

On 18 October 1993 a shunting locomotive struck a car on the Matapihi Road level crossing, Mount Maunganui, fatally injuring the motorist. The safety issues identified in this report are the location and substance of the passive signs prior to the crossing, and the number and location of the active warning devices at the crossing.

A Robinson R44 helicopter disappeared while on a short flight over Lake Wanaka. Searchers found an oil slick on the lake surface and some debris on land nearby.

A work train was allowed to travel through an area where a hi-rail excavator was on the track. The excavator driver cleared the track. No damage, no injury. A local procedural work-around had been prioritised over established safety rules -- risky. TAIC recommends KiwiRail review its Rules and Procedures to provide appropriate guidance for operation of work trains.

A train was wrong routed onto a line not adjacent to a station platform. Two passengers got off and walked across the Main Line. Train control didn’t know, and rail traffic wasn’t blocked from passing through. Nobody hurt. KiwiRail fixing wrong routing of passenger trains at Rolleston, instructing crews on disembarking passengers when platform unavailable. Safety-critical personnel must communicate about who is doing what, when, to complete tasks safely.

A passenger train leaving Wellington station ran a red light because a radio call distracted its driver. The red signal protected an inbound passenger train. Both trains stopped just in time. TAIC reminds KiwiRail of 2017 TAIC recommendation to urgently minimise risks for trains in Wellington rail yards. In the meantime, Train drivers must be more cautious, concentrate.

TAIC has resolved this inquiry, satisfied that the Interim Report published in May 2018 identified the salient safety issues, which Rolls-Royce had already addressed. The Commission’s early investigations prompted the engine manufacturer to improve its system for forecasting when the fatigue might happen. Affected turbine blades have been replaced in 99% of the global flying fleet.

TAIC has resolved this inquiry, satisfied that the Interim Report published in May 2018 identified the salient safety issues, which Rolls-Royce had already addressed. The Commission’s early investigations prompted the engine manufacturer to improve its system for forecasting when the fatigue might happen. Affected turbine blades have been replaced in 99% of the global flying fleet.

On Friday 17 October 1997, Train 1605 was conveying approximately 60 passengers from Masterton to Wellington on its scheduled service. At 1050 hours when 2.5 km into the 8.8 km long Rimutaka Tunnel the train was stopped as a result of an electrical failure in the locomotive control gear. At 1258 hours a relief locomotive was able to clear the disabled service from the tunnel. There were no injuries.