Watchlist
Technologies to track and to locate
What is the problem?
What is the solution?
The operators of aircraft, ships and
New Zealand’s transport sector
boats, and rail vehicles underuse
regulators could do more to encourage
currently available tracking and
and, where reasonable, require the
locating technologies.
operators of air, rail, and maritime
Such technologies can reduce the
vehicles to use available tracking and
risk of things going wrong, improve
location technologies.
survival chances after an accident
occurs, help ensure a lost vehicle
and its occupants are found, and
help us to learn what went wrong in
order to improve safety.
Across the air, rail, and maritime transport modes, tracking and locating
technologies offer ways to improve people’s chances of avoiding or surviving an
accident or incident and ensuring they can be found. Transport Accident
Investigation Commission inquiries in all three modes have suggested opportunities
exist for New Zealanders to get greater benefit from the life-saving technologies
available to them. We encourage transport regulators to educate operators of the
significant safety advantages of using the most technologically advanced tracking
and locating devices that are reasonable and affordable, and to regulate for this in
some circumstances.
Background
Many technologies exist to track, monitor, and locate aircraft, ships and boats, and rail
vehicles. Operators of fleets of all kinds can use information from such technologies for
various purposes, including the efficient management of their fleet and providing better
customer service. However, the information can also play a significant role in enhancing
transport safety.
Aviation
The aviation industry’s use of tracking technologies gained international public attention
with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014. Since the incident, the
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has issued new standard recommended
practices for the normal tracking of international commercial aircraft; it has also adopted
further standards and recommendations relating to the transmission of location information
from larger aeroplanes in distress.1
The Civil Aviation Authority, as New Zealand’s representative on ICAO, should continue to
support the international effort to improve standards and requirements for tracking and
location of aircraft.
In February 2014, the Commission released the report of
our inquiry into a 2011 helicopter accident in which two
people died.2 The helicopter was fitted with a Flight
Tracking Device. Generally, these devices do not alert
anyone that a crash has occurred, but do provide a useful
record of where an aircraft has been and its general
location after an occurrence. In this instance, when the
helicopter was reported overdue, search aircraft were
able to be directed immediately to the general area where the helicopter had crashed.
Similarly, searches for helicopters in three other helicopter crashes the Commission has
investigated were assisted by the aircraft’s tracking system.3
Had there been survivors in these accidents, the information provided by the Flight Tracking
Device could have proved life-saving. As a result of the inquiry into the 2011 accident, we
recommended to the Civil Aviation Authority that it encourage the use of Flight Tracking
Devices, especially for use in aircraft operating in remote areas around New Zealand. The
Commission again referred to the recommendation in a report released in July 2017.4
Even where an aircraft is required to carry a satellite locator beacon, these do not always
work following an accident.5 In the helicopter accident described in the February 2014 report,
the aircraft was also fitted with an Emergency Locator Transmitter. These devices are
manually or automatically activated in an emergency. A second recommendation to the Civil
Aviation Authority resulting from the helicopter accident was to continue to support the
international work underway to improve the crash survivability of Emergency Locator
Transmitters and to include GPS information in the data transmitted by such devices.
A 2018 update to the Aviation Rules regulates the installation and carriage of equipment that
enables crashed aircraft to be found. Further proposals are being considered to introduce
‘Performance Based Navigation’# by 2023, which will aid emergency location of some aircraft.
# Performance Based Navigation is an internationally adopted term for procedures using satellite based
systems. See the New Southern Sky websit
e: http://www.nss.govt.nz/
Performance Based Navigation allows a flexible framework for adopting a wider range of
emergency location technologies where specified objectives can be met. This is a positive
step, which is assisted by an amendment to the civil aviation rules making it possible for the
Civil Aviation Authority to approve new kinds of emergency location equipment. The
amendment provides for the Director of Civil Aviation to specify which equipment is
required, on the basis of it achieving the performance set out in the Rules.
Cockpit video recorders are now available, and the Commission has recommended that
these be fitted to Robinson helicopters to help explain how mast bump accidents occur.6†
Maritime
Tracking and locating technologies are used in the
maritime environment to assist in alerting authorities to
accidents at sea, for example Emergency Position
Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs). In reports into two
accidents involving fishing vessels in Foveaux Strait, we
discussed how equipment to indicate the position of a
vessel could improve the chances of people being
noticed and rescued in an emergency. In one of these
accidents, in which six people died7, we found that if the
boat had been equipped with locating equipment,
authorities may have been able to start the search for
survivors earlier. As it was, by the time search and rescue units were able to respond to the
alarm, night had fallen making the search difficult and time-consuming.
In the other accident we investigated eight people died8. In our report, we commented on
monitoring and tracking equipment and the cost of various options, to highlight what is
available and its potential use.
These accidents illustrate the benefits technologies can offer at relatively small cost to
operators. In 2013, the Government of Western Australia introduced laws requiring all
skippers navigating more than two nautical miles from a coast to have an EPIRB.9 The law
was introduced in response to new technology combined with the reduced cost of the
devices. The Commission is pleased that from 1 January 2019, it became mandatory for
fishing vessels between 7.5 and 24 metres in length that operate outside enclosed waters to
carry float-free EPIRBs.
Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) technologies, which allow vessel movements to be
tracked and monitored, are also developing. Originally intended for use in larger ships to
avoid collisions, AIS is now used for other applications such as search and rescue, and
accident investigation. The system is now also more affordable and used by a wider range of
vessels, such as smaller commercial vessels.
† In June 2020, the US National Transportation Board called on helicopter manufacturers to equip turbine-
powered helicopters with crash-resistant systems to record data, audio, and images. NTSB investigators
had found the lack of recorded data hindered their understanding of several crashes. More information is
here on the NTSB’s website:
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20200602.aspx
Rail
Rail operators monitor and control trains in several ways to avoid collisions and enforce
speed restrictions. A ‘positive train control’ system integrates these various methods of
control, including GPS technology to monitor the location and movement of a train, and on-
board equipment to access relevant information and to stop the train if necessary.
In the United States, trains providing passenger services (and freight services involving some
hazardous materials) are required by law to implement positive train control by the end of
2018, now extended to the end of 2020. The issue remains one of the (United States)
National Transportation Safety Board’s advocacy priorities.10
Implementing full positive train control requires significant investment, and may not be
justified or feasible for all areas on the New Zealand rail network. Nevertheless,
opportunities exist to enhance safety by using technologies that improve the visibility of rail
vehicles to train controllers, used together with technologies that can stop or slow vehicles
without driver intervention.
In 2009, as the result of an inquiry into a track warrant overrun, the Commission
recommended to the New Zealand Transport Agency that it ensures progress towards
achieving positive train control.11
In 2013, we investigated an incident involving the
near head-on collision between a freight train and
another rail vehicle. We recommended to KiwiRail
that it take all appropriate steps to ensure all rail
vehicles travelling on the controlled rail network are
electronically visible to train control.12
The Commission has since closed these two
recommendations because, in December 2014,
KiwiRail introduced a system that monitors the GPS
positions of many of its trains to ensure they remain inside valid track authority limits, and
alerts train control when it detects a train outside these limits.
GPS tracking should ultimately cover all rail vehicles (contracted or otherwise), including
ancillary and high-rail vehicles; and the New Zealand Transport Agency and KiwiRail should
continue to work to integrate this improved vehicle visibility with technologies that stop
vehicles or reduce their speed where necessary to avoid collisions, derailments, and other
safety occurrences. For example, although KiwiRail implemented a system that will
automatically stop a train before it enters a protected worksite, an inquiry closed in 2018
found the system did not work as intended. KiwiRail has remedied the error that led to the
system failure.13
We acknowledge the work the rail sector has done to reduce the incidence of track warrant
irregularities, and encourage it to continue working to achieve the best possible worksite
protection.
References
1 Further information can be found here:
www.icao.int/safety/globaltracking/Documents/Update%20on%20GADSS%20Global%20Aircraft%20Tracking%20Initi
atives.pdf
2 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report AO-2011-003 In-flight break-up ZK-HMU, Robinson R22, near
Mount Aspiring, 27 April 2011 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2011-003
Open safety recommendations: 005/14 and 006/14
3 Transport Accident Investigation Commission reports:
AO-2013-003: Robinson R66, ZK-IHU Mast bump and in-flight break-up, Kaweka Range, 9 March 2013
www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2013-003
A news article about this accident can be found here:
www.stuff.co.nz/national/10606147/Miracle-helps-find-crash-site
AO-2015-002: Mast bump and in-flight break-up, Robinson R44, ZK-IPY Lochy River, near Queenstown, 19 February 2015
www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2015-002
AO-2014-006: Robinson R44 II, ZK-HBQ, mast-bump and in-flight break-up, Kahurangi National Park, 7 October 2014 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2014-006
4 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report AO-2013-010 Aérospatiale AS350B2 'Squirrel', ZK-IMJ, collision
with parked helicopter near Mount Tyndall, Otago, 28 October 2013 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2013-010
5 A review by the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) found that’ emergency locator beacons function as intended in
about 40 to 60 percent of accidents in which their activation was expected’. For the ful review, see the ATSB’s website:
www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2012/ar-2012-128/
6 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report AO-2015-002: Mast bump and in-flight break-up, Robinson R44,
ZK-IPY, Lochy River, near Queenstown, 19 February 2015 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2015-002
Open safety recommendation 014/16
7 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report MO-2006-204: Fishing vessel "Kotuku", capsized, Foveaux Strait,
13 May 2006
www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/mo-2006-204
8 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report MO-2012-201: Fishing vessel “Easy Rider”, capsize and
foundering, Foveaux Strait, 15 March 2012 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/mo-2012-201
9 Information on Western Australia’s requirements relating to Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons is here on
the Department of Transport website:
www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/distress-beacons.asp
10 The National Transportation Safety Board’s advocacy for positive train control can be found here on its website:
www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwlfs-19-20/mwl4.aspx
11 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report RO-2007-108: Express freight Train 720, track warrant overrun at
Seddon, Main North Line, 12 May 2007 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ro-2007-108
Closed safety recommendation 005/09
12 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report RO-2011-102: Track occupation irregularity leading to near head-
on collision, Staircase-Craigieburn, 13 April 2011 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ro-2011-102
Closed safety recommendation 016/13
13 Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Report RO-2017-101: Signal Passed at Danger ‘A’ at compulsory stop
boards, protected worksite Pongakawa, Bay of Plenty, 7 February 2017 www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ro-2017-101
Version history
First published January 2015
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, New Zealand Transport Agency,
Maritime New Zealand, KiwiRail.
Updated: October 2016
Updated content: new ICAO standards and recommendations for tracking and location of aircraft; proposed CAA
rule changes referenced; date for implementation of positive train control in the US extended from 2015 to 2018;
new aviation inquiries referenced; ATSB research report referenced; rail safety recommendations closed.
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, New Zealand Transport Agency,
Maritime New Zealand.
Updated: August 2017
Updated content: release of two reports (AO-2014-006 and AO-2013-010)
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, New Zealand Transport Agency,
Maritime New Zealand.
Updated: September 2018
Updated content: aviation – recent amendment to civil aviation rules; maritime – development of AIS technologies;
rail – release of report RO-2017-101, reference to worksite protection, addition of final paragraph.
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, New Zealand Transport Agency,
Maritime New Zealand.
Updated: August 2019
Updated content: KiwIRail’s worksite protection systems amended from ‘trialling’ to ‘implemented’; introduction of
mandatory carriage of EPIRBs for some fishing vessels noted.
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, New Zealand Transport Agency,
Maritime New Zealand.
Updated: October 2020
Updated content: Footnote added on NTSB call for helicopter manufacturers to install recording systems.
Consulted with: Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport
Agency, Maritime New Zealand.
Te Kōmihana Tirotiro Aituā Waka
Transport Accident Investigation Commission
www.taic.org.nz
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is an independent Crown entity established
to determine the circumstances and causes of accidents and incidents with a view to avoiding
similar occurrences in the future.
