Three Students Rescued From Mt Clime Last Night

The Wellington based Westpac Rescue Helicopter rescued three lost trampers from Mt Clime in the Tararua Ranges last night.

This was the rescue helicopter's fourth mission of the day.

The trio of trampers, all believed to be Victoria University students originally from Germany, called 111 around 5:30 last night and reported that they had become lost during a day tramp. The group was unsure of their exact location, but reported that the rescue helicopter had flown over them earlier and they had not moved very far since then.

The on-duty rescue helicopter crew contacted the pilot who had been flying earlier in the day and he confirmed that he had seen the trio when flying from Masterton to Wellington Hospital around 3pm.

"Tim was able to give us a pretty good idea of where he saw them so that pretty much led us straight into the area" says Westpac Rescue Helicopter pilot Brendan Cahill. "Once we got in the area the weather made it a bit tricky for us, but we were able to land near them and get them back to Wellington Airport".

The wind around Mt Clime was about 75 k/ph at the time of the rescue.

The trampers used a camera flash to attract the attention of the helicopter crew which greatly assisted in locating them.

All three trampers were in good health but relieved to get off the mountain.

Back at the Life Flight Air Rescue Centre they were met by police who assisted them in getting home. During a debrief they confirmed that they had not been in trouble when they waved to the rescue helicopter earlier in the day.

Saturday was a very busy day for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter with four missions. The helicopter was used to move critically ill patients from Nelson, Masterton and Hutt Hospitals plus the rescue of the trampers.

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