Rescuers cleared over tuna boat deaths

The sinking of the Iron Maiden tuna boat last year was "swift and catastrophic" and the deaths of its two crew-members were not caused by a mishandled rescue attempt, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission has found.

Skipper Gregory Reginald David Thirkettle, 24, from Cambridge, and his cousin, Mark Kenneth Scott, 25, from Helensville, drowned when their 18m fishing boat sank after being lost in heavy seas on August 16 near Pandora Bank, southwest of Cape Reinga.

Act leader Rodney Hide last month claimed that police management "botched" the rescue operation and then "covered up" their actions.

The commission's investigation into the incident found there were some delays in launching the rescue, particularly getting the search helicopter off the ground.

But "those delays did not alter the tragic outcome of this accident", says the report, released today.

A mayday call from the Iron Maiden was received at 7.08pm by Taupo Maritime Radio, which contacted the police northern communications centre and the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Wellington.

The Whangarei rescue helicopter was assigned but "confusion by police" over its capabilities meant it was stood down at 7.33pm, only to be deployed again at 7.56pm, the report says.

After waiting for enhanced direction-finding equipment and a further crew-member, the helicopter finally left at 9.10pm. After refuelling at Kaitaia, it arrived in the search area about 10pm - almost three hours after the mayday call.

Sea conditions meant anyone in the water was unlikely to survive more than one hour, the report says.

"But possibly they would have succumbed much sooner."

The commission also found that although the skipper indicated the pair would abandon ship, the liferaft was automatically set free by its hydrostatic release, indicating the crew did not launch it.

"The sea conditions would have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to board the liferaft."

It will never be known why the skipper rounded Cape Reinga with the "full fury of the gale ahead of him", says the report, but a number of factors could have contributed to his decision:* He may have been anxious to return home because his partner was expecting their first child.

* He may have felt pressure to continue because the Iron Maiden's owner was in financial difficulty.

* His own career depended on the Iron Maiden beginning net fishing as soon as possible.

* The cannabis found in his blood indicated he was impaired when he made the decision to round the cape.

* The deckhand was his cousin and friend, and therefore unlikely to have challenged his decision.

- NZPA

The victims

* Skipper Gregory Thirkettle and his cousin, Mark Scott, drowned when the Iron Maiden sank near Pandora Bank last August.
* The body of Mr Thirkettle, who was wearing a lifejacket and had a locator beacon tied to his arm, was found by searchers early the following morning but Mr Scott's body was never found.