Rescue chopper to spend first Easter based at Whitianga

Media release
April 12, 2011

Rescue chopper to spend first Easter based at Whitianga

Holiday-makers and locals alike at the Coromandel this Easter can feel safer knowing the Westpac Rescue Helicopter will be patrolling the skies.

The helicopter, which was based at Whitianga from Boxing Day until Anniversary Weekend, has already performed 84 missions to the Coromandel, Thames and Hauraki region this year.

That is already 70 per cent of the total number of missions to those areas for the whole of 2010.

Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust Chief Executive, Bob Parkinson, says the chopper is returning after a hugely successful first summer season and because of the increasing need for the service.

“The Coromandel community is incredibly enthusiastic about our service and the help it gives their local fire, police and search and rescue teams, and has asked that we come back to patrol this busy Easter holiday break,” he says.

Meanwhile, the second rescue helicopter will remain stationed at Mechanics Bay in Auckland for any emergencies from Whangarei to Franklin, including at beaches as Aucklanders enjoy the last of the summer weather over the long weekend.

From next week Television viewers in the Coromandel, Thames and Hauraki areas should start keeping an eye out for local rescues during the new series of Rescue One.

The first show of the latest series which starts on April 21 and screens at XXpm on channel XX, will show footage of several rescues at the Coromandel over the holiday period including two airlift rescues after a motorcycle accident on a Paeroa farm, and a biking accident in Coromandel township.

For more information on the Westpac Rescue Helicopters or to donate to the Coromandel service provided by the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, please visit www.rescuehelicopter.org.nz

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