OIA No. 424
7 May 2026
Kurt Mastrovich
Email:
[FYI request #34543 email]
Dear Kurt
Decision on information request
Thank you for your information request dated 25 April 2026 asking:
As you know Annex 13 6.5 states "In the interest of accident prevention, the State
conducting the investigation of an accident or incident shall make the Final Report
publicly available as soon as possible and, if possible, within twelve months.
The occurrence in which ZK-NEM descended below minimum safe altitude was on the
13th of June 2023. It is now rapidly approaching 3 years and not even a draft report
has been issued.
Why has a final report in an occurrence of critical concern to airline pilots not resulted
in a final report nearly 2 years after the ICAO recommendation for release?
Can a final report be expected soon and if not what is holding it back?
Is such a delay consistent with best practice internationally?
TAIC is a standing Commission of Inquiry, therefore, it has quasi-judicial processes. Its
principal purpose is to determine the circumstances and causes of certain transport
accidents and incidents, with a view to avoiding similar occurrences in the future (rather than
to ascribe blame to any person).
Consistent with TAIC’s purpose, it looks deeper into accidents and incidents. Its focus is not
to consider individual actions per se, but rather to consider what are the safety systems that
allowed the circumstances to exist, which in turn contributed to the accident or incident
occurring.
There is no required, specified timeframe, in either our domestic legislation or international
conventions, other than as soon as possible. To undertake such a thorough investigation and
inquiry, it takes time to consider such systemic issues. This means that our inquiries
commonly take between 18 months and three years to complete.
[TAIC request email] | www.taic.org.nz
T +64 4 473 3112 (24 hrs) or 0800 188 926 | F + 64 4 499 1510
Level 7 | 10 Brandon Street | PO Box 10 323 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
Transport Accident Investigation Commission |
Safer transport through investigation, learning and influence
This is because it takes time to:
• gather evidence for all plausible lines of inquiry; and
• analyse the evidence; and
• identify potential safety issues, findings and recommendations (if any); and
• produce a Draft Report and provide interested parties with an opportunity to
comment on the Draft Report, and where necessary, incorporate such comments into
the Draft Report before finalising it; and
• publish a Final Report with safety issues, findings and recommendations (if any).
On the TAIC website, you may track the progress of inquiries. AO-2023-007 is currently at
the Draft Report phase of the inquiry. You may visit TAIC’S website for updates:
Bombardier
DHC-8, ZK-NEM, descended below minimum safe altitude, Timaru, 13 June 2023 | TAIC. If you are unhappy with our handling of, or decision on, your information request, you may
make a compliant to the Ombudsman. However, please feel free to contact us first to see if
the issue can be resolved.
Yours sincerely
Tahlia Fisher
Acting Chief Investigator of Accidents
Document Outline
