Miscommunication and confusion between emergency services was highlighted during an inquest of two Northland men who died in a helicopter while searching the coast for missing people forced from their homes into the sea by a large scrub fire.
Kerikeri pilot John "Prickles" de Ridder, 69, and Department of Conservation (DoC) ranger William Macrae, 54, of Awanui were on a fire reconnaissance flight on November 30, 2011 when their helicopter crashed into the sea off the Karikari Peninsula.
While flying over the major fire, they were tasked with finding five people trapped between the advancing flames and the sea. The five potential victims were picked up by two boats in the area.
Mr de Ridder had been directed to search for the five persons. The helicopter was ill equipped for rescue operations, the inquest heard yesterday.
Coroner Brandt Shortland said at the conclusion of the first day of the hearing in Whangarei yesterday there had been some confusing evidence given and, following the loss of the two senior professionals, there were still some unanswered questions. What was clear was an additional hearing needed to be held early next year to deal specifically with issues around the firefighting process, communication and decisions during the incident.
Representatives from the fire service, fire communication staff and members of the national rural fire service would give evidence. Yesterday the court heard from Karikari Peninsula volunteer fire chief Thomson Lawrence who said he and his team were first on the scene about 7.20pm and he became incident controller.
With 27 years rural firefighting experience he said in these situations "all hell breaks loose for a couple of hours" before there was a co-ordinated approach. At this incident there were so many agencies turning up there was some confusion.
"You go in and do your best ... There are a lot of people running around and it still takes a lot to get co-ordinated."
He said a helicopter was needed to help control the fire. Mr de Ridder, with nearly 18,000 hours flying time and one of the most experienced firefighting pilots in the region, responded and was at the scene.
William Macrae was also called to the fire and together it was decided they would fly above the fire to give an incident management team, gathering at the DoC centre in Kaitaia, a better idea of the scale of the fire at about 9.20pm.
It was unclear who had directed the duo to rescue the people from the beach. But instruction given by a communications person for the fire service in Auckland was overheard by police staff. At 10.30pm police again overheard, on the emergency services radio channel, a request for the rescue helicopter to search for a missing helicopter.
Northland Police Search and Rescue boss Cliff Metcalf explained how depending on the seriousness of an incident, different agencies took control. In the case of the missing people on the beach, police should have been notified as soon as possible and would have taken over the co-ordination involving other parties such as coastguard and the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter. "This helicopter was not equipped to attempt any rescue of people in these conditions."
When the helicopter went into the sea the New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre should have been appointed to take charge. However, it seemed the fire service did not alert the other services of the changing circumstances.
"I think there was a confusion and a lack of understanding of roles," Mr Metcalf said.
The men were found strapped into the helicopter 680m off shore in 7m of water.
Pathologist reports presented to the inquest by police stated Mr De Ridder had died from multiple blunt force trauma, while Mr Macrae had drowned by associated head injuries.
The hearing continues today with evidence to be given by the Civil Aviation Authority.