The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC, mi, Te Kōmihana Tirotiro Aituā Waka) is a transport safety body of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It has its headquarters on the 7th floor of 10 Brandon Street in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. The agency investigates aviation, marine, and rail accidents and incidents occurring in New Zealand. It does not investigate road accidents except where they affect the safety of aviation, marine, or rail (e.g.

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

or car ferry accidents). It was established by Act of the

Parliament of New Zealand The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his ...

(th
Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990
on 1 September 1990. TAIC's legislation, functions and powers were modelled on and share some similarities with the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

(USA) and the Transportation Safety Board (Canada). It is a standing Commission of Inquiry and an independent

Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute. The Crown Entities Act i ...

, and reports to the Minister of Transport. Initially investigating aviation accidents only, the TAIC's jurisdiction was extended in 1992 to cover railway accidents and later in 1995 to cover marine accidents. In May 2006, the Aviation Industry Association claimed too often the organisation did not find the true cause of accidents, after TAIC released the results of a second investigation into a fatal helicopter crash at Taumarunui in 2001. The Commission rejected the criticism, CEO Lois Hutchinson citing the results of a March 2003 audit by the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...

Ron Chippindale Ronald Chippindale (26 March 1933 – 12 February 2008) was the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents in charge of the New Zealand Office of Air Accidents Investigations. Early life and family Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, on 26 March ...

, who investigated the

Mount Erebus Disaster The Mount Erebus disaster occurred on 28 November 1979 when Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE-901) flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board. Air New Zealand had been operating scheduled A ...

, was Chief Inspector of Accidents from 1990 to 31 October 1998. He was succeeded by Capt. Tim Burfoot, John Mockett in 2002, Tim Burfoot again in 2007, Aaron Holman in 2019, Harald Hendel in 2020, and Naveen Kozhuppakalam in 2022.

Peer agencies in other countries

Australian Transport Safety Bureau The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. The ATSB is the federal government body responsible for investigating transport-related accidents and incidents within Australia. It covers air ...

Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB, ko, 항공ㆍ철도사고조사위원회) is an agency of the South Korean government that investigates aviation and railway accidents, subservient to the Ministry of Land, Infrastruc ...

– South Korea *

Dutch Safety Board The Dutch Safety Board (DSB; nl, Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, OVV, literally "Investigation Council for Safety") is an organisation based in The Hague, Netherlands.Taiwan Transportation Safety Board The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB, ) is an independent government agency of the Republic of China responsible for major transportation accidents on aviation, railways, waterways, and highways in Taiwan. The council is headquartered in ...

– Taiwan *

Japan Transport Safety Board The is Japan's authority for establishing transportation safety. It is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). It is housed in the in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The agency formed on Octob ...

– United States *

National Transportation Safety Committee The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC, id, Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi, KNKT; literally "Transportation Safety National Committee") is an Indonesian government agency charged with the investigation of air, land, rail, ...

– Indonesia *

Safety Investigation Authority The Safety Investigation Authority of Finland (SIAF or SIA, fi, Onnettomuustutkintakeskus, lit. ''Accident Investigation Center'', shortened to ; sv, Olycksutredningscentralen) is the accident investigation authority of Finland. It investigates ...

– Finland *

Swedish Accident Investigation Authority The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority ( sv, Statens haverikommission, or SHK, in English formerly the Swedish Accident Investigation Board) is a Swedish government agency tasked with investigating all types of serious civil or military acci ...

– Sweden *

Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB, german: Schweizerische Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle; french: Service suisse d'enquête de securité; it, Servizio d'inchiesta svizzero sulla sicurezza) is a government agency of Swit ...

– Switzerland *

Transportation Safety Board of Canada The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB, french: Bureau de la sécurité des transports du Canada, BST), officially the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (french: link=no, Bureau canadien d'enquête sur les ...

Transport Safety Investigation Bureau The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) is statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore and is an independent investigation authority, responsible for the investigation of air, marine and land transpor ...

– Singapore

References

External links

Rail accident investigators New Zealand independent crown entities 1990 establishments in New Zealand Transport organisations based in New Zealand {{organization-stub