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Winston Peters alleges cover-up over Interislander crash (www.rnz.co.nz)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has alleged a cover-up at KiwiRail over the grounding of the Aratere last month.

There were allegations from coalition government partner New Zealand First earlier this week the accident last month happened after "someone put the autopilot on, went for a coffee, and then couldn't turn the autopilot off in time when that someone came back".

Party leader Peters on Thursday morning appeared to distance himself from the claim, before doubling-down on it.

"But here's the point - at the moment we heard this story, it was clear as daylight that something dramatically had gone wrong, that shouldn't have gone wrong, and we find out it was on autopilot." Peters said the party had sources on the boat itself, which relayed the 'coffee break' claim.

"I am the acting prime minister, and the reality is that we are wanting to hear the truth, but we don't want to delay any longer. And in a way, you can say I'm asking KiwiRail [to] front up - right here right now."

Labour leader Chris Hipkins was unimpressed with New Zealand First posting the claim to social media, rather than sharing whatever information it had with investigators.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Ok so someone made a mistake and applied an auto-pilot command early.....it happens.

It appeared from that point, a crew member had inadvertently hit an execute button, causing the vessel to alter its course in a way it would do around about one nautical mile further along. As this happened early and steered it towards the shore.

As an automation engineer, my first though is why is this even able to happen? Once you are outside the area where you need a local pilot to guide you, shouldn't the system check the GPS location to ensure that the commands make sense. This should be easy to check!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I'm also very surprised the helm doesn't override the autopilot, or cancel itself if there is a conflict, in much the same way aircraft autopilot or cruise control does.

This really does sound like an appalling design to me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Exactly, industry standard is for local stop (HMI stop) to override any and all start commands unless there is a very good reason to not stop that device.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Maybe its that if someone is at the helm, it’s not going to be accidentally knocked. Ships helms (traditionally, I’ve not been in a large modern ship) aren’t in confined spaces specifically designated for operating the ship. They’re just a wheel on the bridge.

If it’s on autopilot, nobody is at the helm, and someone walks past, gets bumped or whatever into the helm. You don’t want the boat yeeting itself into land.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

I suspect they went they way of boeing - give the pilot as much control as possible, rather than airbus - remove the pilot as much as possible.

Not familiar with these boats and their upgrades, but remember they are 25 or so years old.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I kinda get the impression Winston thinks "autopilot" is something that lazy people turn on when they'd rather get a coffee than work, instead of what it is, a tool that is used in the normal procedure of running the boat.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

And like any other system its only as good as its set and monitored.

Similar issue with aircraft - set altitude, heading or decent rates wrong and the plane does what its told. Airbus is taking some pretty good steps to safeguard this.

Do I think someone went to get a coffee - no. But mistakes do happen with systems and complacency - especially if everything usually goes right, 4th crossing of the day, when you fatigued.

I think winny needs to stop going for shock value and act like someone in control.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

It reminds me of when Tesla first released "Autopilot". People were confused and saying "but all it does is keep you in your lane at the same speed". Yes, that's what autopilot is. When planes have autopilot, that doesn't mean they don't need a pilot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You're definitely right, NZ first, and Winston in particular, act like they're in opposition even when they're in government.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

That is a really good way to describe it - no actionable plans, just complaints and problems. Your great at being loud, now show there's something behind it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

This has long been a problem with NZ first, they act like they're in opposition even when they're in government.