Tearful instructor recounts canyoning trip disaster

The Mangatepopo Stream. File photo / Sarah Ivey

An outdoor pursuits instructor broke down in tears at an inquest today as she described the events which led to the deaths of six Auckland students and a teacher in a canyoning tragedy.

Hastings coroner Christopher Devonport is holding the inquest in Auckland Coroners Court to find out what caused the deaths of Elim Christian College students Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Tara Gregory, Tom Hsu, Anthony Mulder and Floyd Fernandes and teacher Tony McClean when they were in the Mangatepopo Gorge near Turangi as part of an outdoor adventure course on April 15, 2008.

Jodie Patricia Sullivan, who was the instructor for the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC) who took the group canyoning, said she knew rivers could rise quickly, and she knew what danger signs to look out for.

She told the court she checked the water levels and the colour of the river before going into the gorge.

"I wanted to get out of the gorge by 3pm. I mixed up the group in order of confidence. When we got to the dam at 1pm it was not raining hard.

"I could still see the rocks at the top of the dam. The water was clear and running at the same speed I'd seen it earlier.

"But we were under a canopy the whole time we were in the gorge and the light was fading," she said.

She told the inquest she had underestimated how fast the river rose between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

"The water kept rising. I was at the bottom end of the ledge so I could catch people who lost their footing. The current was very strong. I contemplated climbing off the ledge but it was under an overhang and there was no way out.

"I thought I'd be better to go down the river. We waited on the ledge until 3.30pm, and I assessed each person's confidence in the river. The river was extremely noisy.

"I stood on a ledge to help people across the river.

"I told the students to use big arm movements to get across," Ms Sullivan said.

She managed to get out of the river just before the dam, and went further upstream with her rescue bag ready to throw to the students from the riverbank. She also radioed for help, she said.

William McCartney, representing Ms Sullivan, asked her how confident she felt about taking the group up the gorge.

She said she felt "fairly confident".

Earlier today, the inquest was told the MetService omitted the word "thunderstorms" from a weather forecast that day.

Meteorologist Ross Marsden said a forecast was issued at 6.15am that day without the word "thunderstorms". The MetService then issued a further forecast at 6.36am, but this one was not picked up by the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC).

Paul White, representing OPC, asked Mr Marsden if there was a procedure in place within the MetService to review a forecast after it had been sent out. He said there were such procedures in place, but OPC did not get the updated version.

No criminal charges were laid over the incident but the OPC was last year ordered to pay $480,000 in fines and reparation after admitting two charges laid by the Department of Labour under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

The department had said the OPC should have known from the heavy rain that the group should never have entered the gorge, even though the water levels were not high when they entered.

It also said the OPC should have either subscribed to the Met Service's weather warning service, or kept an eye on its website for weather warnings on the day of the tragedy.

- NZPA