Injured motorcyclists were airlifted to hospitals in two separate incidents in the lower North Island today.
Early this afternoon the Wellington-based Westpac rescue helicopter flew an injured motorcyclist from the Rimutaka Hill Road.
The helicopter, with a Wellington Free Ambulance paramedic on board, was called to the accident scene afew minutes before noon.
Crewman Dave Greenberg said that the crash happened on the Wellington side of the Rimutaka Summit.
"On our arrival a Wellington Free Ambulance crew were treating a 20-year-old Wainuiomata man who had hit and gone under the road barrier alongside the road," he said.
The helicopter landed in a lay-by near the accident scene and the man was flown to the Wellington Hospital emergency department where he was being treated and assessed for multiple non life-threatening injuries.
About the same time the Hawke's Bay-based Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter was sent to Ongaonga where a man had fallen from his off-road motorcycle, injuring his shoulder.
While on scene the rescue helicopter was responded to another incident involving a two-car head-on collision on a gravel road at Ashley Clinton. A woman, who had suffered chest injuries from the car accident, and the motorcyclist were both flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital.
