Coroner rejects Army's view of fatal Unimog crash

Sean Dougherty and Daniel Kairua

A coroner has rejected findings by the Army that a Unimog truck crash that killed two soldiers was probably caused by driver inattention.

Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea also found that the Unimog driver, Private Sean Dougherty, could have survived the August 2004 crash had rescuers got to him sooner.

Private Dougherty, 29, and Private Daniel Kairua, 22, died after the Unimog they were travelling in left a narrow snow-covered shingle road on Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch, and rolled 120m down a hillside.

Another passenger, Private Martyn Berry, survived but was badly hurt.

It is one of five Unimog accidents in seven years in which soldiers have been killed.

The latest was 14 days ago near Blenheim when a soldier was killed and another seriously injured.

An Army court of inquiry into the crash that killed Private Dougherty and Private Kairua found the most likely cause of the accident was driver inattention.

But Mr McElrea said: "These inquest findings differ substantially from those of the court of inquiry.

"In particular, this court does not attribute the cause of the accident to the driver of the Unimog and, based on the evidence, rejects any suggestion of driver inattention.

"Private Dougherty was following the path of the leading vehicle as the Army had taught him to do ... He was concentrating but appropriately.

"The illusion of the road being wider than it was deceived him. He could expect the edge gravel to be of sufficient strength to take the weight of the Unimog.

"In short, it would be harsh to conclude there was driver error."

Mr McElrea said there was a combination of factors such as a lack of signs, signage and the soft edge of the road giving way.

"The softness in the surface of the road shoulder ... was crucial to the outcome, as was the position of the vehicle. If the vehicle had been further right, in the traffic lanes [obscured by the light snow cover], the fatalities would not have happened."

A pathologist found Private Kairua's injuries were too grievous, but Private Dougherty survived the crash and died minutes later from vomit which blocked his airway as he lay trapped.

They were driving in a convoy of five trucks and 14 Army personnel.

"The absence of ability to communicate with the leading vehicle, the occupants of which were oblivious of the emergency, by any other vehicle in the convoy ... was potentially crucial to the outcome for Private Dougherty," Mr McElrea said.

"If the rescuers had been able to get him out at an early stage and prevented vomiting, then his survival would have been much more likely."

Mr McElrea made recommendations, including more signs, better inspection of the road by contractors and better planning by the Army.

The Army declined to comment on the coroner's findings last night.


FATAL HISTORY

Army Unimog trucks have been involved in seven fatal incidents in the past decade:

* August 16, 2006 - Meredith Simms, aged 18, dies after Unimog crashes in convoy near Blenheim.

* February 7, 2006 - Unimog and a truck collide on State Highway 1 near Hunterville, killing truck driver Shane Ratahi, 44.

* February 23, 2005 - Unimog plunges into the Kawarau River near Queenstown, killing Privates David Partington, 17, Ashley Goodwin, 19, and Shane Ohlen, 21.

* August 11, 2004 - Unimog rolls 400m on Banks Peninsula, killing Privates Sean Dougherty, 29, and Daniel Kairua, 22. A third soldier is badly injured.

* April 25, 2000 - Unimog leaves the road and rolls down a bluff near Lolotoe, East Timor, killing Staff Sergeant William White and injuring three others.

* November 30, 1999 - Warrant Officer Tony Walser, 37, is killed carting gravel in East Timor.

* July 25, 1998 - One woman dies and another person is critically injured when a car crashes into the back of a moving Unimog.

- NZPA