Mangatepopo Canyon disaster

Summary

On the 15th of April 2008 approximately 40 students were on a school camp at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. The group was from Elim Christian College in Auckland. 10 students, one teacher and one instructor were involved in a flash flood in the Mangatepopo stream in the Tongariro National Park. The group was caught in the river when the water level began to rise rapidly. The group took shelter on a ledge, after sometime the instructor made the decision to leave the ledge and try and get the students to help. She feared that the students would get hypothermia if they stayed where they were and she believed the river would rise even further. The plan was for the instructor Jodie Sillivan to go first with Ashley Smit and then throw a line to the students as they came down at five minute intervals. Sullivan and Smith both made it safely to the bank of the left of the river. No one left on the ledge had a watch which made the timings much more difficult.

• Kish Proctor went first he did not catch the rope thrown to him or he lost his hold on the rope and went over the dam, he was later resuced..
• Peter Shiih was able to catch the rope and be pulled to safety.
• Portia McPhail was unable to catch the rope she went over the dam and drowned.
• Natasha Bray was unable to catch the rope she went over the dam and drowned.
• Floyd Fernandes and Anthony Mulder were attached to each other neither were able to reach the rope, they were possibly too far away from Sullivan. Both drowned.
• Tara Gregory was unable to catch the rope she went over the dam and drowned.
• Sarah Brooks was unable to catch the rope, she went over the dam, but she survived.

Antony McClean the teacher attached himself to student Tom Hsu. Antony was initially able to catch the rope, but later lost hold of it. Both people drowned. The current proved to strong for most of the groups all up six students and one teacher died in the event. The event became a major international news story.

• An indepth investigation found significant failings at the centre which led to the disaster.
• It is believed this accident has one of the heighest death tolls on a school camp in a western country in recent memory.
• The principal of the college, Murry Brunton was awarded a memeber of the New Zealand Order of Merit for the way he led his community through the disaster..
• The centre was fined $480,000 for health and safety breaches.

Names of the victims

Antony McClean teacher 29 Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Huan (Tom) Hsu, Anthony Mulder, Floyd Fernandes and Tara Gregory. All the students were 16 years old.

Dramatization

The events of the disaster were documented in the 2018 made for TV movie "In a Flash" The film started Emma Fenton.

Significant findings from the inquiry

It is believed that if any one of these failings was addressed the disaster would not have happened. The report by the centre lists almost 200 reccomendations and learnings from the disaster.

• The weather warning left out the critical word "thunderstorms"
• If the group stayed on the ledge the water would have receeded after 30-60 minutes.
• The high turnover of staff at the centre meant that 23 near misses and one death over the past 40 years were not known about by current staff.
• In 1977 an instructor was killed in the george, it seems that Jodie Sullivan was not aware of this.
• Two instructors should have been present for the trip up the gorge.
• Tom HSu had cerebral palsy, this was not disclosed on the medial form although Sullivan was made aware of it.
• Imprecise communications between Sullivan and the centre lead to confusion about whether the group had gone into the gorge or not.
• The disaster could have been averted if both the teacher and the instructor each had a radio so they could communicate.
• Inaccurate or incomplete permission slips did not fully disclose the students swimming ability.
• The students were told to leave their cell phones at the camp site which limited their ability to call for help.
• Overconfidence of the instructor Jodi Sullivan was a factor.
• The centre did not have an up to date weather report.
• Although the activities were listed as challenge by choice there was no alternative activity for the students who did not want to participate.
• The centre had a reputation for activities in “rain or shine” which significantly increased the risk and made cancelling an activity harder.