Combination of errors led to boating death - Coroner

A combination of errors by police, Wanganui Coastguard and three fishermen led to the death of a teenager off the coast of Wanganui last year, the coroner has found.

Geoffrey Hampton, 19, drowned after spending the night in the water with his father Alan and a friend Duncan Powell after their 5m boat Hard Out sank off the coast of Wanganui on February 23 last year.

It sank quickly after being hit by a freak wave and they only had time to grab their lifejackets and a mobile phone, which did not work.

They were found nearly 11 hours after authorities became aware they were overdue.

Alan Hampton has criticised the bungled rescue, saying "petty attitudes" and dysfunctional relationships between agencies had killed his son.

Coroner Carla na Nagara, in her report released today, noted that none of the lifejackets were suitable for open waters. They tried to swim to shore which hadn't helped them conserve energy.

She also found that police failed to follow best practice in their search and rescue operation.

Only one policeman headed the search for the men after 10 other members of the Wanganui search and rescue (SAR) team could not be raised to help in the search.

Ms Nagara said the police incident controller held ultimate responsibility for the search but lacked experience in night searches and qualified help.

There was also a lack of inter-agency training and a "subculture of poor/distrustful relationships" between the local agencies.

The incident controller had decided not to put up a plane at night because it was assumed the boat was still afloat, and they were not looking for people in the water.

It wasn't widely known but an RNZAF Iroquois may have been able to help in the search and was available on the night.

The men's relatives were critical of police liaison with them and the coroner said liaison was unacceptable.

There was an unfortunate miscommunication that all three men were alive.

Geoffrey Hampton's mother first learned of his death when she saw his body, covered in a white sheet, being brought ashore.

Changes also needed to be made to the Wanganui Coastguard operating procedure as there was a time delay in getting details about the missing boat and men, Ms Nagara said.

A combination of factors led to Mr Hampton's death but if the boaties had carried emergency personal locator beacons Mr Hampton would have had a much greater chance of surviving, she said.

The coroner endorsed recommendations in the Maritime NZ report and the police peer review report.

She made six recommendations:

- It should be compulsory for boaties to carry emergency locator beacons.

- The Wanganui Coastguard operating procedure for overdue boats be amended so that if trip reports are not closed within two hours of dusk, that time is of the essence in establishing whether boaties are overdue.

- Boaties be educated about what can happen if trip reports are not closed.

- Central Districts police review its arrangement regarding police officers who are SAR volunteers so that the incident controller can have a team of at least two trained SAR officers.

- Police appoint an family liaison officer for every SAR operation.

- There should be a review of information highlighting the importance of using the correct lifejacket so it is easily understood.

- NZPA