When an Otago jet boat drivers efforts to stop his boat crashing into canyon walls failed, he scooped a passenger out of the water by her life jacket to prevent her become trapped, a court has heard.
The Canadian woman was one of nine passengers on board the Skippers Canyon Jet boat when it crashed in the Shotover River, near Queenstown, in February 2019.
All passengers and the driver were injured. Many suffered ongoing anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
A Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) investigation found the crash was caused by a steering fault from incorrect maintenance.
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Skippers Canyon Jet admitted a health and safety charge, brought by Maritime NZ.
It was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $22,174 in reparation and $230,000 in emotional harm payments, when it appeared in the Queenstown District Court on Wednesday.
The Shotover River on Skippers Canyon Rd, north of Queenstown.
Judge Richard Russell said about 10am on February 22, 2019, the boat was returning down the Shotover River from the Skippers Bridge with the passengers onboard.
The driver was preparing to zig-zag through the Skippers Canyons when the steering locked up.
He attempted to shake the wheel, assuming there was a stone to be released from the jet unit.
That did not work and the boat hit the canyon wall at between 20 and 30 kilometres per hour.
He put in a mayday call and attended to the passengers, including grabbing one woman by her life jacket and pulling her from the water before she became trapped between the boat and canyon wall.
Two other company boats helped, before a rescue helicopter arrived about 30 minutes later.
The driver and passengers had injuries from lacerations and bruising to joint dislocations and broken bones.
One person was flown to Dunedin Hospital after a Skippers Canyon Jet boat crashed in February 2019. (Video first published in February 2019)
The worst affected was the woman who was thrown from the boat, suffering a leg fracture requiring reconstructive surgery and ongoing rehabilitation.
The judge said three of four studs-bolts fastening the steering nozzle assembly to the tailpipe of the jet unit broke, leaving the steering and control system ineffective.
The bolts had not been tightened with a torque wrench and Loctite had not been used, as per the manufacturers specifications.
The companys maintenance log did not clearly show when he studs were last tightened, and it was not clear in the log who carried out the most recent work.
Visual checks were undertaken by the skipper before each trip, including the February 22 trip.
The primary cause of the crash was the loose bolts, but he also accepted that the use of paint between components may have been a contributing factor, an issue the company was not made aware of until after the crash, he said.
The company had since improved its procedures, the judge said.
It had provided financial support to the injured passengers in the aftermath of the crash, paying their medical and accommodation costs.
They were all from overseas and many were on the first leg of long-planned holidays.
Customers at New Zealands adventure tourism operations were entitled to expect equipment was well maintained and in good order, the judge said.
The safety of passengers has to be the operators top priority.
He told company director Ben Hohneck he should be proud of what his company had achieved in its three decades of operating.
This was a bad lapse of judgement a bad error but you can move on.
Speaking outside the court, Hohneck said he was pleased the court process was over and the reparation could be paid.
The company was still in touch with the affected passengers and the mechanic involved was still employed by the company, he said.
