SAR Award for No. 3 SQN
The New Zealand Search and Rescue (NZSAR) Council Awards, held on 21 April in Parliament’s Grand Hall, saw No. 3 Squadron among those honoured.
3 SQN recipients
The NZSAR Certificate of Achievement—awarded for an important contribution to search and rescue in the NZSAR region, either during 2009, or over an extended period—recognised No. 3 SQN’s participation in SAR Operation All Whites, on 10 October 2009.
Flight Lieutenant Dan Pezaro—captain of the Iroquois involved in the SAR Operation—accepted the award, on behalf of No. 3 SQN, from Associate Transport Minister Nathan Guy. The other crew members—FLTLT Stuart Anderson, Warrant Officer Max Cawley, and Sergeant Luke Millar—were all present at the awards, and Chief of Air Force was represented by Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Steve Moore.
Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott was unable to attend the awards ceremony but acknowledged No. 3 SQN, not only for the rescue on Mt Taranaki that was formally recognised, but also for the many SARs they conduct on a regular basis. "No. 3 SQN has a well deserved reputation for conducting challenging Search and Rescue operations with the utmost professionalism, and the RNZAF certainly benefits from the positive image the team creates," said CAF, AVM Lintott.
SAR OP All Whites
Late on the afternoon of 10 October 2009, two brothers tramping on Mt Taranaki got into difficulty in the snow conditions. They managed to send a couple of text messages; one saying they needed an ambulance, and another which helped narrow the search area to within a 90-minute walk from Lake Dive Hut. An Air Force Iroquois Helicopter was needed to evacuate the brothers. The crew flew in tough weather conditions using their night vision goggles. It was too dangerous to land the Iroquois at the hut at night, so the crew, using great skill, winched the two brothers out and flew them to Taranaki Base Hospital.The pair’s core body temperatures were so low they would have been dead by morning without the help of their rescuers, who later described the conditions as among the coldest they had ever experienced on the mountain.