Ngai Tahu Tourism is investigating ways to prevent petrol burns to passengers should a jet-boat crash, after an incident on Lake Wakatipu in 2008.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has found driver distraction was to blame for the crash on February 20 in which several tourists were injured, including a man from the United Kingdom who received petrol burns.
The Dart River Jet Safari boat crashed into a gravel bank and overturned on the Dart River, near Glenorchy, with 18 passengers on board.
It was heading downstream, when the driver pointed out a flock of geese to an interested passenger. After looking ahead again, the driver realised the boat was too close to the bank and adjusted the helm and throttle.
However, the corrections came too late and the boat grounded, sliding along the bank before coming to rest on its canopy.
Passengers kicked out the windows to escape.
One passenger received burns after he was soaked in petrol which was running out of a fuel-tank vent. The driver helped him remove his shirt and wash in the river. A woman broke her collarbone, while two other passengers received bruising.
Two rescue boats were dispatched with medical supplies and blankets to ferry the passengers to a paramedic.
The four injured tourists were taken to Queenstown Hospital for treatment. Several others were treated for mild hypothermia.
TAIC chief commissioner John Marshall QC said the driver and company co-ordinated the situation well after the accident.
However, he identified safety issues, including the potential difficulty of removing the canopy if the boat were overturned, or in deep water; poorly marked emergency exit windows; and a fuel vent design that allowed petrol to leak from the upturned boat.
The TAIC recommended Maritime New Zealand encourage proper recognition of driver distraction as an issue for commercial jet-boat operations.
It also made recommendations on the marking of emergency exits and the design and placement of fuel vents.
Ngai Tahu Tourism southern regional general manager David Kennedy said the company held its own internal investigation and came to "similar conclusions about some of those things".
"All of the commercial jet-boats in New Zealand have to have vents ... It's just a case of looking into whether there's a way of putting some valves on there. We're already looking into it, [and] any information we glean, we share as well.
"It's not just about Dart River Jet; it's about any learnings that could be applied to the industry."
Mr Kennedy said the driver involved in the incident was retrained by the company and resumed work, before resigning voluntarily.
