Third rescue helicopter for Northland could be Auckland-based

Northland's third rescue helicopter could be based in Auckland for half the year for training and hospital transfers, but the chopper won't cost Northland ratepayers anything, the chairman of the trust that runs the service says.
The Northland Emergency Services Trust (Nest) recently announced it had bought a second-hand Sikorsky S76 helicopter, complete with winch, as a third rescue copter for Northland.
Nest chairman John Bain said the new chopper would join the trust's two Sikorsky S76s, one of which also has a winch.
Mr Bain would not say how much the new chopper cost, but second hand Sikorsky S76's are listed for sale on the internet site of US-based AVBuyer at between US$650,00 and US$1.3 million, although the ones for sale do not have a winch attached. He said the trust got a good deal for the machine.
Last year the Northland Regional Council (NRC) imposed a region-wide rate of $8.56 per property to raise about $600,000 a year for Nest and there was no mention during that process of the trust wanting a third helicopter, despite Mr Bain saying the trust had been looking at buying the new chopper for well over a year. He said the information on the need for a third chopper may have been seen by the NRC during the due diligence process, but as he was a regional councillor he removed himself during that time.
Mr Bain said there was justification for the third rescue chopper , despite the fact it could be basedat the training school at Ardmore airport for half the year to provide hospital transfers for Auckland District Health Board.
"The reality is that our workload has increased to such an extent that we needed another half a helicopter. But you can't buy just half a helicopter," he said.
"Every 300 hours our helicopters have to have a major check-up that can take them out of action for up to eight weeks at a time. Last year we did almost 900 hours between them and this year it's going to be 1000 hours, and that means having them out of action for a long time."
The helicopter had been used in Australia for non-rescue purposes, but Mr Bain would not reveal who it was bought from, but said he had no links to the company. He said the rescue helicopter service was a vital health provider in Northland that had transported more than 11,500 people since it started in 1988.
"And there would be many, many lives saved in that number. There wouldn't be anybody in Northland who didn't know somebody who has had to be transported in the Nest helicopter," Mr Bain said.
He said the new helicopter was paid for from Nest's helicopter replacement fund that was separate from ratepayer funding and would not be a financial burden on Northlanders. Mr Bain said the revenue generated from having the chopper based in Ardmore for much of the time will further offset operating costs, "ensuring local residents in Northland communities will not wear the cost."