By Natalie Akoorlie, Open Justice journalist of 
Hannah Francis, who went to school in Auckland's Glen Eden, died in a bus crash near Ohakune. Photo: Supplied / NZME
A ski field operator has pleaded guilty to charges it faced over a bus crash that killed an 11-year-old schoolgirl on Mt Ruapehu almost five years ago.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) was operating the shuttle bus that crashed beneath Tūroa ski field on Ohakune Mountain Road in July 2018, fatally injuring Auckland girl Hannah Francis and injuring some of the 30 others on board.
RAL, which went into voluntary administration last year, had attempted to stall the prosecution against it until liquidators could report back in May on its financial situation.
The company, which operates North Island ski fields Tūroa and Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu, is $40 million in debt.
However, in the Taihape District Court today, RAL pleaded guilty to two charges brought by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
No charges were laid by police or WorkSafe at the time of crash, but a coroner's inquest in 2021 found the bus' brakes used an air-over-hydraulic brake system that was old technology and the driver made critical errors that led to the brakes failing.
Coroner Brigitte Windley's findings restarted the limitations for WorkSafe to lay charges after the original timeframe for doing so had lapsed.
Michelle Bruton with her daughter Hannah Francis, who was fatally injured in a bus crash on Mt Ruapehu in July 2018. Photo: Supplied / NZME
RAL was charged with failing to ensure the safety of passengers on the Mitsubishi Fuso bus that day and exposing Hannah and other passengers to risk of death or serious injury.
It was also charged with failing to ensure the safety of its workers and exposing them to the same risks on the buses it used to transport skiers up and down the mountain road. The charges carry a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.
The charges were laid against RAL in May last year, and a judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of RAL in August because of continued adjournment requests.
In February, Hannah's parents Matt Francis and Michelle Bruton told the Herald in a statement on behalf of their families that the delays in the case had been upsetting.
"... the delays and continual requests for continuance by RAL are making an already difficult situation even more difficult for us all and adding to our trauma," they said.
"There are also a number of other victims from this accident that are affected by these delays.
"Although we appreciate the current situation for RAL, we hope that this matter can be bought to conclusion as soon as possible to allow us to move forward with our lives."
Hannah Francis with her dad Matthew, step-mum Christina and step-brothers Joshua (left) and Caleb Dukeson. Photo: Supplied / NZME
In her findings, Coroner Brigitte Windley called for passenger seatbelts on buses and emergency run-off lanes to be investigated after Hannah's death.
She found the bus driver made two critical mistakes leading to the crash.
Terry Choi was driving the 1994 Mitsubishi Fuso with an unforgiving braking system reliant on extremely careful driving, Coroner Windley said.
An examination of the bus found no mechanical faults that caused the brakes to fail.
The way Choi, a father himself who was so remorseful he did not seek name suppression, drove the bus was the main cause of the brake failure and crash, Coronery Windley said.
"Mr Choi had made two critical mistakes."
He used third gear when driving down the steep upper reaches of Ohakune Mountain Road with a fully loaded bus.
Coroner Windley said that put the brakes at risk of irrecoverable failure.
"Mr Choi's second critical mistake was in failing to change down from third gear to second gear, as he said he usually did, before the hairpins."
She also found the bus had an air-over-hydraulic brake system considered old technology by today's standards.
"Brake fade can set in rapidly, and where overheating occurs to the point of failure, there is little, if anything, the driver can do to rapidly recover braking function."
In September, WorkSafe dropped a charge of failing to ensure the health and safety of road users was not put at risk from its work against Vehicle Testing New Zealand.
RAL will be sentenced in August at Waitākere District Court.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
