A preliminary report from a military court of inquiry revealed that a series of human errors led to a New Zealand navy ship crashing into a reef off the coast of Samoa, catching fire, and sinking. The crew failed to realize the autopilot was engaged, leading them to believe the ship was malfunctioning and not manually controlling its course towards land. Fortunately, all 75 people on board were safely evacuated when the ship went down about a mile off the coast of Upolu in October. This incident marked the first time since World War II that New Zealand lost a navy ship at sea.
The Chief of Navy Rear Adm Garin Golding stated that the direct cause of the grounding was determined to be human errors that resulted in the autopilot not being disengaged when necessary. The crew erroneously believed that a thruster control failure was causing the ship to not respond to direction changes. Golding mentioned that there were also contributing factors to the incident but did not disclose what they were. The court of inquiry is ongoing and is expected to continue into the first quarter of the next year.
Golding stated that a separate disciplinary process will begin following the conclusion of the inquiry, as human error was identified as the primary cause of the disaster. He reassured the public that lessons will be learned from this incident and expressed his commitment to earning back the trust of the people of New Zealand.
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