Media Releases
Adventure company fined over injuries to tourist
Friday 4 June 2004
Adventure company fined over injuries to tourist
A Queenstown adventure tourism operation and its director have been ordered to pay a total of $30,000 for causing life-threatening injuries to a tourist.
Fly By Wire (Queenstown) Ltd and its director Neil Harrap were today sentenced in the Wellington District Court over the accident involving Swedish tourist Anna Jonsson in Queenstown on 15 November 2001.
Fly By Wire was fined $5000 on one charge, and ordered to pay $20,000 reparation to the victim on a second charge. On a third charge of not having a local authority permit to operate, the company was convicted and discharged. Harrap was convicted and ordered to pay $5000 costs.
Ms Jonsson was seriously injured when the “plane” she had paid to ride on crashed into the rails on the Fly By Wire building. Her left arm was almost completely severed, and she nearly died from loss of blood. She is still deeply affected by the accident, and severely disabled as a result.
Occupational Safety and Health investigated the accident, and laid four charges under the Healthy and Safety in Employment Act, and one under the Machinery Act. The engineering firm that Fly By Wire consulted to ensure the ride was safe is also to be prosecuted by OSH.
OSH service manager for Southland John Pannett said the consequences for the victim had been profound. She has had to give up her job as an intensive care nurse, hasn’t worked since the accident and still suffers from pain, he said. “She has suffered physically, mentally and financially, and will continue to do so for a very long time.”
Mr Pannett said the Fly By Wire operation lacked a suitable and effective braking system at the time of the accident, as well as other deficiencies that led to the winch un-spooling and sending Ms Jonsson crashing into the building.
There had been other ‘near misses’ at Fly By Wire, he said, including a complete winch failure just three weeks before Ms Jonsson’s accident.
Mr Pannett said it was completely unacceptable for adventure tourism operators to have anything less than a safe operation.
“It is the perceived risk of danger that makes people undertake adventure tourist activities. The actual risk of harm must, however, be minimised and companies must have appropriate measures in place to ensure that all practicable steps are taken to keep people safe.
“Thrill seekers are entitled to expect the highest standards from recreational rides such as this, and adventure tourism operators must take their obligations very seriously. Adventure tourism in New Zealand is a multimillion dollar industry and accidents like this can only tarnish the whole industry’s image.”
