Emma Kelly / Perth
New Zealand’s Search and Rescue Council has made 41 recommendations on how to improve the country’s search and rescue (SAR) services following its investigation into the search for a helicopter crash site in November 2005.
A Eurocopter EC120B carrying an Auckland distillery chief and a Dutch businessman crashed on 4 November near Mount Karioi in Waikato, North Island on a flight from Papakura to Queenstown. The official search was abandoned after 10 days, with a search paid for by the men’s families locating the crash site, in dense bush land on 19 November.
New Zealand’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre was set up two years ago to improve the country’s rescue services, but the SAR Council says in this incident – one of the biggest in New Zealand SAR history – the centre struggled to co-ordinate services and was unable to cope with the “surge” of information it received. The council recommends greater involvement in search missions by agencies such as the civil aviation authority, police and defence.
It also recommends the installation of improved location safety equipment on helicopters, as the emergency locator beacon on the Eurocopter disabled on impact when the antenna snapped off.
Source: Flight International
