Whakaari/White Island eruption: Police misunderstood volcano gas readings
Friday, 8 May 2020
Police misunderstood scientific measurements when responding to the deadly Whakaari / White Island eruption, newly-released documents reveal.
A man whose brother’s body was never recovered after the blast is not surprised police misread the data and says a golden opportunity was missed to recover the dead.
Police did not deny misunderstanding some measurements but said expert advice was sought and clarified where necessary.
The misunderstanding can be revealed following the release of a trove of documents by GNS Science under the Official Information Act.
**READ MORE:
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* Whakaari/White Island helicopter pilot wants update on people he rescued
* Whakaari/White Island eruption death toll rises to 21
**
Minutes from a meeting on December 11, 2019, two days after the eruption which killed 21 people and injured 26, showed GNS identified several “emerging issues”.
Among them was a “misunderstanding from Police of what our gas measurements are and how we use them'.
A bullet point below that line suggests police understood the gas measurements could be used to assess the safety of staff working on the crater floor.
Volcanoes release gases as magma rises towards the surface.
A GNS bulletin showed a gas measurement flight on the Thursday afternoon, the day before the body recovery mission, found levels of volcanic gases were higher than on Tuesday.
GNS communications manager John Callan referred requests for clarification on the nature and effect of the misunderstanding to police.
In an emailed statement, police response and operations national manager Superintendent Andrew Sissons did not deny there was a misunderstanding.
However, “there was a clear understanding among the group that the real-time gas monitoring data was limited and on its own not sufficient to fully inform those decisions', he said.
“Police are confident expert advice was sought and clarified, where necessary.”
A senior GNS Science vulcanologist was a part of a response team involving several agencies.
Mark Inman’s brother Hayden Marshall-Inman was an experienced tour guide who died on his 1111th trip to the island.
His body, along with that of Sydney teenager Winona Langford, was one of two never recovered from the island, and is believed to be in the sea.
Inman said he was not surprised to learn police had misunderstood some measurements.
In his view, police missed a golden opportunity immediately after the eruption to recover the bodies on the Monday afternoon.
“We know they missed the windows. The end result would have changed if we got out there on Monday afternoon.“
His comments regarding a missed opportunity echo the view of Kahu NZ owner and chief pilot Mark Law, who flew to the island after the eruption.
One of Law's pilots, Tom Storey, pulled Marshall-Inman's body from a stream bed on the island.
After Law and other pilots rescued a dozen injured from the island, they were told they could not fly again to recover the bodies.
Law earlier told Stuff he was angered by the decision.
Inman expressed displeasure with the police response to the eruption.
“The police didn’t handle it very well at all.”
Police Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Andy McGregor maintained the conditions on the island the afternoon after the eruption posed a significant risk to life, necessitating the decision not to allow further access.
The GNS meeting minutes from December 11 showed the organisation was experiencing pressure to say when it was safe for the body recovery operation to go ahead.
That day at noon, GNS calculated the estimated probability of death anywhere closer than 590m from the lake edge was greater than 1 in 1000 for each hour on the ground.
“This is beyond what GNS Science feels is an acceptable risk for our staff,’’ Callan said.
A WorkSafe investigation into the eruption is underway and is expected to take up to a year.