The Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter had a busier week with 11 missions and a training sortie over the period of April 10 to April 16. The rescue missions included the following;
Sunday 10 April
Annual helicopter training for Manawatu LANDSAR members was conducted in the Kahutarawa Forest park. This was followed by an afternoon mission to the Waitarere Beach area, near Levin, where a 22-year-old from Lower Hutt had fallen from his dirt bike during a trail ride event. The patient was flown to Palmerston North Hospital with a serious leg injury.
Wednesday 13 April
A mid-morning call-out to Taihape for a local woman in her 40’s suffering a serious medical complaint. This was immediately followed by a mission to Ohakune for an elderly local lady with a medical condition, both were airlifted to Whanganui Hospital. Later at around midnight the helicopter assisted Police with a search for missing tourists on the Whanganui River.
Friday 15 April
Around midday the helicopter was tasked by the NZ Rescue Coordination Centre with a distress beacon search in the Pohanglina Valley. Later in the day the rescue helicopter was dispatched to Raetihi, where a local farmer had suffered a serious leg injury in a fall. He was flown to Whanganui Hospital. That evening, a third callout to Waiouru for a Lower Hutt man suffering a serious medical condition. He was airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital with the crew using Night Vision Goggles to complete the mission.
Saturday 16 April
An early afternoon mission to remote rural location near Stanway, North of Halcombe, where a young Palmerston North lady, in her 20’s, had fallen from her horse while hunting. She was airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital for further treatment. Later that night the helicopter was called to assist Whanganui Police in a search for a distress flare that had been sighted off the coast of Whanganui. The helicopter crew conducted a search using a high powered search light, Night Vision Goggles and an Infra Red search device in conjunction with a Coast Guard surface vessel without result.
