Sole unimog survivor contradicts Army inquiry findings

The sole survivor of an Army truck crash has contradicted the findings of an Army court of inquiry by saying the driver was not to blame.

Martyn Berry, 30, was a passenger in the New Zealand Defence Force Unimog which plunged down a 400m drop during a training exercise near Little River on Banks Peninsula.

Privates Sean Dougherty, 29, and Daniel Kairua, 22, died in the accident on August 11 last year.

Mr Berry, appearing as a witness at the inquest into the soldiers' deaths at the Christchurch District Court yesterday, said Mr Dougherty, who was driving at the time, was not to blame for the crash.

Reading from a statement he gave to police soon after the accident, Mr Berry told the inquest: "I felt safe. He was a good driver."

An Army court of inquiry, which released its findings in April, found the most likely cause of the crash was driver inattention, but at the time declined to identify the driver because of the likely impact on his family.

Asked in court by Captain Grant Fletcher, for the Army, whether Mr Dougherty made a mistake and had driven off the road, Mr Berry responded: "No. He was too good for that. He was a good driver. No way. Definitely not."

Mr Berry also denied there had been any "clowning around" or "skylarking" by the passengers before the crash, which happened on the unsealed Bossu Rd.

Instead he blamed snow obscuring the edge of the road or the road giving way, quoting from his statement to police that he was "not sure if we ran out of road or if the road fell away".

Describing what happened, Mr Berry, who suffered broken ribs and a back injury and lost the use of his legs for a few weeks, said: "Suddenly we were tumbling down. It was all just black and grey, black and grey."

He had told police he could recall little about what happened.

"The only thing else was waking up at the bottom and having the guys next to me."

Their vehicle was second in a convoy of six Unimogs heading back to Burnham Military Camp, where they were based.

Mr Kairua had only joined Mr Dougherty's vehicle as a passenger a short time before the crash happened, the inquest heard.

Mr Berry also told the inquest there was a blind spot, which prevented Unimog drivers from being able to see the edge of the road.

Since the deaths of Mr Dougherty and Mr Kairua, a Unimog crash has claimed the lives of three soldiers on a training exercise near Queenstown in February. The army is conducting a review of all driver training as a result of the tragedies.

The inquest was adjourned until September 26 when it will reconvene. It is expected to last up to five days.

- NZPA