- 3 months ago
Disaster Transbian episode 10
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00:00Are you ready to tell him?
00:01Are you ready to tell him?
00:31Are you ready to tell him?
01:02Dennis Marshall, New Zealand's Minister of Conservation, eventually resigned after the Commission of Inquiries report came out.
01:11No one would be found negligent, no one lost their job over it, and for a long time, no one resigned.
01:19I just want some honesty brought into the whole thing, and I want the due process and law followed.
01:30Something can't be man-made and break and kill all those people, and nothing happens.
01:37They built a death trap and let our kids walk into it.
01:41In 1995, there were 40 students enrolled in the course.
01:45They were nicknamed the Outdoor Wreckers.
01:48For many, it was their first time away from home.
01:51Most would live at the Polytechnic's hostel.
02:03Next door is the local Catholic high school, where Andrew McCarthy teaches science.
02:08Well, we're still OK.
02:11Let's put another two people, 70 foot...
02:15Every year, he gives a physics lesson on what went wrong at Cave Creek.
02:20Andrew McCarthy has good reason to pass on the lessons of Cave Creek.
02:26His daughter, Kathy, was on the platform when it collapsed.
02:30If in building you ignore the rules of physics, people can die.
02:35Until the course, Kathy had been living with her mum in Paihia Tua.
02:39Kathy was hoping to have fun.
02:42That was what life was about.
02:44Kathy and I were locked together in the outdoors.
02:47Originally, I can remember sort of saying,
02:50come on, Kathy, keep going, you can do it and stuff.
02:52Then it sort of got to the stage where it was the other way around
02:55and Kathy was saying, come on, mum, you know, you can do it.
02:58And we got to know all the discipline masters
03:00and the headmaster and the head of a hostel quite well
03:05because he was difficult and he just wanted to be different.
03:10And he always stood out.
03:12And then we took him over to the coast
03:14and we pulled up outside the hostel in the nurse's home there
03:18and Kit got out and there were all these other kids identical to Kit.
03:23And Harry and I sort of looked at each other and thought,
03:25oh, Kit's come home.
03:26He's found his peer group.
03:29When he came back for his first holidays,
03:32the May holidays, but two or three before the tragedy,
03:37he was a different guy.
03:38He was standing tall, he was sort of unfolded himself
03:42and he was standing at full height and he was alive.
03:46For Evan Stewart, life was one big adventure.
03:50Growing up on a hill country sheep and cattle farm
03:52in Nelson's Cable Bay provided the perfect playground.
03:56He had a dream and he just wanted to get into being a hunting guide
04:02or some sort of outdoor pursuits.
04:05Yeah, he just loved the outdoors.
04:06And he was suddenly finding he could actually do rock climbing.
04:11He was good at it.
04:11He used to say, Mum, there's something I can really do.
04:15He was a character.
04:18He had good people skills and he just loved challenges.
04:23He used to say that the farm was his backyard,
04:26but Nelson Lakes National Park was his playground.
04:29But as they were making the transition into adulthood,
04:33they would all share a sense of coming home to a new family,
04:37a family of fellow adventurers pursuing a life of challenges and risk-taking.
04:42But what possible risk could there be in a simple field trip
04:46along a newly constructed walkway?
04:49It also resulted in major changes to procedures
04:52used by the New Zealand Department of Conservation
04:55after it was revealed that serious systemic failures
04:59had led to the building of the unstable platform.
05:04Eventual changes in New Zealand law following a change of government
05:08allowed for government departments to be held criminally liable
05:12for inadequate building practices
05:15in the same way as non-government organizations.
05:18Cave Creek, also known as Cotihariho,
05:23is a small stream in Paparoa National Park.
05:27A viewing platform was erected
05:29by the Department of Conservation, DOC,
05:32in April 1994,
05:34looking out over a 40-meter chasm
05:37with a view of the resurgence,
05:39where the creek emerges from a cave system below.
05:42The builders of the platform
05:44did not have appropriate qualifications for the job.
05:49Twelve major problems or oversights occurred
05:52during the platform's construction,
05:55including nails being used to connect the bearers to the piles
05:59instead of bolts,
06:01as no drill was brought to the site.
06:04The platform was highly unsafe,
06:06especially with large numbers of people on it.
06:09As for Les Van Dyke,
06:11the man who designed the platform
06:12and had already built the decking,
06:14for some reason he was assigned to another group,
06:17upgrading the track.
06:20It always remained a mystery to me
06:22why the person who designed that, Les Van Dyke,
06:25was not allowed to complete the job.
06:26Van Dyke claims he did discuss the plans with Wild.
06:29Wild says it was possible,
06:31but he's certain he was never given plans to take to the site.
06:34In the event, no plans were on site.
06:37Indeed, Mark Davis told the commission,
06:41not much was discussed about the way the platform was to be built.
06:44Philip's sister, Anne-Marie, died at Cave Creek.
06:48We used the same materials.
06:51Timber decking, timber handrails,
06:53there was timber bearers and timber joists as well.
06:58Fence posts were for the piles.
07:00Two registered master builders and some engineering students
07:04carried out the project on the lawn at the Auckland Unitech.
07:08Carefully following the sequence of events
07:10as outlined in the commission of inquiry,
07:12our team quickly discovered the major flaws.
07:15To start with, there was no drill,
07:18so they couldn't use the bolts to secure the piles to the bearers.
07:21The bolts were left lying on the ground,
07:23and nails only were used.
07:29Also missing were the lengths of steel that Van Dyck had ordered
07:32to secure the platform to the concrete counterweight.
07:36The steel never made it to the site
07:38and disappeared altogether.
07:40No plan for the precise location of the piles was prepared.
07:45No grid was laid out on the ground.
07:47Well, Queen explained that the pile driving
07:49depended on the nature of the ground.
07:53Adjustments had to be made to work around rocks and tree roots.
07:58In order to attach the bearers to the piles,
08:01they used packers to create a straight line.
08:04I've used 100mm nails
08:06to go right through the front bearer board,
08:08with the packer into the pile.
08:10The nail came barely 1 or 2mm into the pile,
08:15so the joint was just useless.
08:18Now, in pile P11,
08:22it wasn't put in line.
08:26There's the length of the nail.
08:28That's where the head of the nail goes to.
08:30That's at best.
08:33But look what happened
08:34if you don't nail it in the right place.
08:37Can you see that there?
08:38It will soon work its way out.
08:42Here's probably the best way of doing the piles.
08:47Cut it in.
08:48Put a bolt in.
08:50And although it appears to be wobbly,
08:53because of the thickness of the bolt
08:55and the way it's attached,
08:56it'll be a lot stronger.
08:59With the bearers attached,
09:00the piles were trimmed to an even height.
09:02The work to this point took most of the first day.
09:08The next day,
09:09the prefabricated platform
09:10was assembled on top of the piles,
09:13and again, 100mm nails were used.
09:15They decided on the amount of cantilever
09:19by pushing the boards in and out
09:22as to how much you could see down of the view below,
09:25and that's how they arrived at their cantilever.
09:28So there was no mathematical tables
09:31or weights and measures,
09:34nothing.
09:34They just decided it out of their heads.
09:38Kevin Wilde and Mark Davis
09:39also spent part of the second day
09:41digging a trench at the back of the platform,
09:44while the others finished off the decking and handrails.
09:46The idea was to come back another day
09:49and build a set of concrete steps
09:50which would be attached to the platform by bolts.
09:55Davis told the commission,
09:57I thought that the platform
09:59was going to be bolted onto the counterweight
10:01when the counterweight was poured.
10:03There was no discussion
10:04about how this was going to be done.
10:07The building of the concrete counterweight
10:09was to be completed later.
10:10In fact, it would be a year later.
10:13In the meantime,
10:14the four platform builders finished their handiwork,
10:18walked out onto the end of the platform
10:19and had this photograph taken.
10:22They obviously didn't realise
10:23just how unsafe the platform was
10:25without the counterweight.
10:28To test the strength of our platform,
10:30we loaded it with rubbish bins.
10:33We filled these with water
10:34to achieve the weight equal to the 18 people
10:37who fell at Cave Creek.
10:39Remember, our platform was made
10:41with the same materials
10:42and the same specifications.
10:45The Cave Creek platform
10:46differed slightly
10:47in that it was likely attached
10:48with nails to the concrete steps
10:50which were eventually poured.
10:53After half an hour,
10:54we would reach the weight
10:55of only 10 people.
10:57It was slow, 29 minutes,
11:10but the actual failure occurred
11:12in half a second.
11:14It was frightening, the speed of it.
11:21On the day of the collapse,
11:23a group of students from the Thai Putini Polytechnic
11:26in Greymouth visited the park.
11:29En route through the bush,
11:31a small group consisting of the Polytechnic tutor,
11:34a Department of Conservation, DOC, officer,
11:38and three students split off
11:40while the larger group of 17 students
11:43and another DOC officer
11:45continued towards the platform.
11:47A larger group reached the platform first
11:51and walked to the edge together
11:53at about 11.25 a.m.
11:56Several students started shaking the platform
11:59and it toppled forward into the chasm.
12:02The DOC officer and 13 of the students
12:07were killed.
12:08Four students survived the collapse
12:10with serious injuries.
12:13The second group reached the location
12:15shortly after the collapse.
12:18Having realized what happened,
12:20the remaining DOC officer
12:21and one of the students
12:23ran back to the start of the track for help,
12:26but on arriving,
12:27they found that the keys
12:28were not in the group's vehicles.
12:30At this point,
12:32the DOC officer
12:33returned to the scene of the accident
12:35while the student
12:36ran along the road
12:38with a note
12:38containing information
12:40about the location of the accident.
12:42And we could see the platform
12:44resting on the rocks
12:45and that snap in time
12:46of like seeing
12:47almost the reality
12:48of what you're dealing with
12:50is just like...
12:51And then the whole thing
12:54kind of switched for me
12:55like, okay,
12:56you've got to deal with this.
12:58Shirley and Mark
12:59reached the vehicles
13:00at a quarter to twelve.
13:02So then we got back to the vehicles
13:03and I discovered
13:04that Stephen had taken the keys with him
13:06and you had to have the keys on
13:09to get the radio to go.
13:10So I got there
13:11and I had a perfectly serviceable vehicle.
13:13In fact, I had three vehicles.
13:14Not one of them
13:15had a set of keys to them.
13:16They were all unlocked.
13:17We'd get into them
13:18and we couldn't use the radio.
13:21Shirley then asked Mark
13:22to run the seven-kilometer gravel road
13:24to the nearest house.
13:25She had the presence of mind
13:27to write in this note.
13:29This is an emergency.
13:30We have 15 people
13:31approximately seriously injured.
13:33We need helicopters,
13:34scoop nets,
13:35medics, crash nets
13:36and manpower.
13:37We are at Cave Creek Resurgence,
13:39top platform collapsed,
13:41100 foot drop.
13:41Soon after Mark left on foot,
13:46Shirley met two cyclists.
13:48She quickly sent them
13:49in pursuit of Mark.
13:50Someone came and yelled out to me.
13:53I asked them
13:54and I thought they might have
13:55had a message as well.
13:56And they said no,
13:57they just gave me the bike.
13:59Mark was now able to complete
14:00the dash to the main road
14:01on the bike.
14:02It was a quarter past twelve
14:04when he reached the house
14:05of John Forrest
14:05and dialed 111.
14:08Mark was too exhausted
14:09and stressed to finish the call.
14:10Forrest took over,
14:11reading Shirley Slatter's note
14:13for him.
14:14It was 50 minutes
14:15since the platform collapsed.
14:18During the next hour,
14:20they sorted the living
14:21from the dead,
14:22untangled the bodies
14:23and gave what aid they could
14:24to the survivors.
14:26An hour after the platform crash,
14:28Shirley Slatter arrived back
14:29with the clothing
14:30from the vehicles.
14:32I remember coming in
14:33and I was feeling pretty
14:37and my legs were like jelly,
14:38you know,
14:38sort of going down
14:39a whole heap of stairs
14:40and just feeling
14:41really nervous
14:42about going down there.
14:44Shirley expressed concern
14:45for her boss,
14:46Stephen O'Day.
14:47And John came over,
14:48he saw me
14:49and he came over
14:49and I said to him,
14:50you know,
14:50where's Steve?
14:51I need to get the keys
14:52off him.
14:53And he said,
14:54oh, I'm sorry,
14:55Steve's dead.
14:57So then it was sort of,
14:59all right then.
15:02And you just sort of,
15:03I guess,
15:03autopilot takes over,
15:04you bring the mask down
15:06and you push all your emotions
15:08away and just go
15:09and do what you did.
15:10The remoteness of the site
15:11made it difficult
15:13for medical services
15:14to assist the survivors.
15:17The first person
15:18to reach the scene
15:19was a Grey Mouth police
15:20constable
15:21who arrived on foot
15:22two hours after the accident.
15:25Ambulances from Grey Mouth
15:27and Westport
15:27arrived initially,
15:29later followed by
15:30RNZAF Bell
15:32UH1H
15:33and
15:34BK117 Rescue Helicopters
15:37from Christchurch.
15:38I rang the police again
15:39and they wouldn't tell me anything
15:41and said to ring the hospital,
15:42so I rang the hospital
15:43and I got hold of
15:44a woman there
15:46who,
15:46this was about
15:47eight o'clock at night
15:48by then,
15:49and
15:50she said
15:52she couldn't say
15:53anything officially
15:54but
15:54not to hold out
15:56too much hope.
15:57And the phone,
15:57just people were ringing
15:59saying,
15:59have you had
16:00heard
16:00and we couldn't tell them
16:02that he was dead
16:02or alive.
16:04And I said,
16:05is Kit alive
16:05or is he dead?
16:06Can you please tell me?
16:07And he said,
16:08you haven't been told?
16:09And I said,
16:09no,
16:10I haven't been told.
16:11I said,
16:13Kit is dead,
16:14is he?
16:15He just said
16:16that they had
16:17a person
16:17that they thought
16:18was Stephen O'Day
16:19and would I be prepared
16:21to identify him?
16:24And,
16:24yeah.
16:25once we'd found out
16:31he was dead,
16:32I just wanted
16:34to get everything
16:34going,
16:36his arrangements
16:36for his funeral
16:37quickly,
16:38and
16:38the minister said,
16:41do you want him
16:41cremated or buried?
16:42And I just broke down.
16:44I just collapsed
16:45on the floor
16:45in a heap.
16:47The hardest part
16:48for me
16:48was telling Marjorie
16:49that his son was dead.
16:50My whole life
16:58just went to pieces,
16:59really.
17:01All these terrible
17:02facts just came out
17:03and I had a breakdown.
17:06Then it just all
17:07caved in on top of me.
17:09It was hard to accept
17:11that they'd gone,
17:13you know,
17:13so quickly.
17:15They were so vibrant,
17:16they were so full of life
17:17and they were such
17:18a fine group
17:19of young people.
17:20You think,
17:21no,
17:21it's a bad dream,
17:22it'll all go away.
17:23You know,
17:24somebody's tricking you.
17:26You know,
17:26he's going to walk
17:26in the door.
17:29No,
17:29not to be.
17:34The next day
17:35the parents started
17:36arriving in Greymouth.
17:38For some
17:39it was important
17:39to see where
17:40their children had died.
17:42They made the
17:42heartbreaking walk
17:43into Cave Creek.
17:47We walked in
17:48where they walked
17:48and we walked
17:49to the platform
17:51where they walked
17:51but when we got
17:52to the platform
17:53it wasn't there
17:54and that was
17:55one of the most
17:56shocking things,
17:57finding the
17:59insubstantiability
18:00of it
18:01and we locked
18:02at it
18:02and we had
18:02our farming
18:03friends with us
18:04and we just
18:06locked in.
18:06Everyone shook
18:07their heads
18:07where are the bolts
18:09and where are the
18:09supports,
18:11where's the
18:12counterweight.
18:13We couldn't believe
18:15that someone like
18:16Doc
18:16would do something
18:18like that.
18:24What had gone wrong?
18:26Who was to blame?
18:28How could Doc
18:29or Government Department
18:30allow such a thing
18:31to happen?
18:31Many families
18:34attended the
18:34commission of inquiry.
18:36They would be stunned
18:37as they listened
18:37to the evidence
18:38and heard blow
18:39by blow
18:40exactly what happened.
18:42A commission of inquiry
18:43into the accident
18:44headed by
18:45District Judge
18:46Graham Noble
18:47highlighted a number
18:49of serious concerns
18:50with the Department
18:51of Conservation's
18:52construction of the platform.
18:54Specific concerns
18:55that were raised
18:56included
18:56the platform
18:58had not been designed
18:59or approved
19:00by a qualified engineer.
19:02None of the people
19:03involved in building
19:04the platform
19:05were qualified engineers.
19:07Nails were used
19:08to secure the platform
19:09instead of bolts
19:11as intended
19:12by the design
19:13because an appropriate
19:14drill had not been
19:15taken to the building site.
19:17The steps to the platform
19:19which were supposed
19:20to be attached
19:21as a counterweight
19:22had not been
19:23properly attached.
19:24A building consent
19:27had never been obtained
19:28for the platform.
19:30By the time
19:31this was realized
19:31the plans had been
19:33lost in replacement
19:34and incorrect schematics
19:37were hastily drawn
19:38by an unqualified
19:40volunteer exchange student
19:42so as to lodge
19:43a retrospective application.
19:46Further confusion
19:47about the building act
19:48then resulted
19:49in the consent
19:50never being lodged.
19:53The platform
19:53was not listed
19:55in any register
19:56that would have resulted
19:57in regular inspections.
19:59A warning sign
20:00for the platform
20:01suggesting a maximum
20:03limit of five people
20:04had been ordered
20:05but never installed
20:07at the site.
20:08Besides the specific
20:09flaws
20:10in the actual platform
20:11and methods
20:12of its construction
20:13the commission said
20:15the quote
20:15root causes
20:16of the collapse
20:17were systemic problems
20:19in the department
20:20as a whole
20:21noting that the department
20:22was seriously
20:23underfunded
20:24and under-resourced.
20:26The commission
20:27found that the department
20:28had not been given
20:29sufficient resources
20:30to meet its requirements
20:32without quote
20:33cutting corners
20:34and was frequently
20:36forced to accept
20:37poor quality standards
20:39due to its lack
20:40of funding.
20:40The report
20:41of the commission
20:42concluded that
20:43given the department's
20:44state quote
20:45a tragedy
20:46such as Cave Creek
20:48was almost bound
20:49to happen.
20:51Ten years after
20:52the accident
20:52survivor Stacy Mitchell
20:54said that he
20:56and some other students
20:57were shaking
20:58the platform hard
20:59when it collapsed
21:00which he had not
21:01reported at the time
21:02through fear
21:03of being blamed.
21:05Evidence at the inquiry
21:07indicated that
21:08the platform
21:08should have been designed
21:09and built
21:10to tolerate use
21:11that could reasonably
21:13be expected.
21:15Soon after the accident
21:16the department
21:17of conservation
21:18inspected more
21:19than 520 structures
21:21and 65 were closed
21:23for repairs.
21:26The review led
21:28to the removal
21:28of a large number
21:29of structures
21:30on public land
21:31and many safety notices
21:33appeared on the remainder
21:34around New Zealand.
21:36Indeed, some felt
21:37the response
21:38was excessive.
21:39For example,
21:40in cases where bridges
21:41and platforms
21:42were labeled
21:43with signs
21:43such as
21:44one person maximum.
21:46Although DOC
21:47took responsibility
21:48for the accident
21:49there were no prosecutions
21:51as New Zealand law
21:53at the time
21:53did not permit
21:54the Crown
21:55to prosecute itself.
21:57Wow.
21:57$2.6 million
21:58was still paid
22:00to the victims' families.
22:02Since the accident
22:02New Zealand law
22:04has been adjusted
22:05to ensure
22:05that the Building Act
22:06covers government departments
22:08and to allow
22:09government departments
22:11to be held liable
22:12for such negligence
22:14and future.
22:15Prime Minister
22:16Jim Bolger
22:16initially attacked
22:18the report
22:18produced by
22:20the Commission of Inquiry
22:21arguing that
22:22the platform failed
22:23essentially because
22:24it lacked about
22:25$20 worth of bolts
22:27to hold it together.
22:28The Minister of Conservation
22:30Dennis Marshall
22:31was criticized
22:31in the media
22:32for his management
22:33of the department.
22:35Many people blamed Marshall
22:36although there was
22:37also wide criticism
22:39of the whole government's
22:40policies on management
22:42of the conservation estate.
22:44Marshall eventually resigned
22:45in May 1996
22:47just over a year
22:48after the accident occurred.
22:51A new minister
22:52Nick Smith
22:53was appointed
22:54and a full review
22:56of the department
22:56was conducted
22:57by the State Services Commission.
23:00A memorial plaque
23:01was unveiled
23:02in April 1996.
23:04In 1998
23:05the track reopened
23:06to the public.
23:08New stairs
23:09replaced the old ones
23:10but the viewing platform
23:11was not rebuilt.
23:13The platform space
23:14has a fence around it
23:16and warning signs.
23:18In 1996
23:19New Zealand composer
23:20John Dillon
23:21wrote an orchestral piece
23:23Cave Creek 95
23:24an elegy
23:25in recognition
23:27of the event.
23:28The section of track
23:29to Cave Creek
23:30from the intersection
23:31with the Inland Pack track
23:33was renamed
23:34the Cave Creek Memorial Track
23:36slash Cody Hody Ho
23:37in 2020
23:38as part of the
23:4025 year remembrance
23:41of the disaster.
23:42There is a memorial
23:43on the side of the track
23:45to those who died.
23:46Sometimes I think
23:48that I'm getting on
23:49with life
23:49and things are
23:50getting into perspective
23:52and then something
23:54little happens
23:55and you realize
23:56that it's not
23:57that it's still there.
24:02It's
24:02probably think about it
24:04every day.
24:04I would have loved
24:06to have seen
24:07what happened
24:07with Catherine.
24:08She either would have
24:08been a fantastic success
24:10or unemployable.
24:13I don't know
24:13which way she would
24:14have turned out
24:14but she certainly
24:16had a zest for life.
24:19Stephen Hannon
24:19says he has
24:20a new appreciation
24:21of life.
24:23I value life
24:24a lot more now
24:25and things are
24:26more of a challenge
24:27just a little day
24:28every day
24:28things like
24:29going to the fridge
24:30and getting a drink
24:31or going to the letterbox
24:32and getting the mail.
24:33People tend to think
24:34that because of what
24:36I've lost
24:37I'm going to be depressed
24:38and unhappy all the time
24:39but that's not the case.
24:41I mean everyone
24:41has their bad days.
24:43I get probably
24:44a lot of days
24:46than a lot of people
24:47but the good days
24:48far exceed
24:49what most people
24:51would expect.
24:52I enjoy myself
24:53a lot more
24:53than probably
24:54what I used to.
24:55I enjoy this one so
24:56wonderful
25:00I do
25:01because I've got an
25:03amazing
25:05opinion
25:07and I think
25:08the fact that
25:09of the future
25:09I see
25:10the trend
25:10between a
25:10and the
25:12and the
25:13and the
25:13and the
25:14and the
25:14and the
25:15and the
25:15Iんだ
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