On 7 June 2013, during a routine inspection at Auckland International Airport, New Zealand of a Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registered ZK-ZQG, maintenance personnel discovered damage to the horizontal stabiliser mechanism.
An investigation into the circumstances of this incident is being conducted by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) of New Zealand. The TAIC investigation reference is 13-007/AO-2013-007.
On 29 January 2014 the TAIC requested Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) assistance in gathering aircraft maintenance information from the Australian-based maintenance provider and certain of its personnel. In accordance with paragraph 5.23 of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, the ATSB appointed an accredited representative to the TAIC investigation. To facilitate this support, the ATSB initiated an external investigation under the provisions of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003. The information gathered by the ATSB was provided to the TAIC on 28 March 2014.
The TAIC is responsible for, and will administer the release of the final investigation report into this incident. Any enquiries regarding the TAIC investigation should, in the first instance, be directed to:
Deputy Chief Investigator of Accidents
Transport Accident Investigation Commission
PO Box 10323, The Terrace
Wellington 6143, New Zealand.
Telephone: +64 4 473 3112
Facsimile: +64 4 499 1510
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Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.