A helicopter pilot has told a coroner's inquiry about the scenes immediately after the Whakaari/White Island eruption in December 2019. Photo / George Novak
By Victor Waters of RNZ
Warning: This story includes content that may be distressing to some readers.
A helicopter pilot, who was the first civilian to land on Whakaari/White Island after its 2019 eruption, has revealed the chaos of tending to survivors while the volcano threatened to blow again.
Kahu NZ Helicopters director Robert Mark Law is giving evidence this week in Auckland at the ongoing coroner’s inquiry into the tragic events of 2019.
The pilot, who has military experience in the SAS, said he saw the eruption happen while he was driving between Tauranga and Whakatāne and immediately organised to fly to the active volcano to help.
He was accompanied by staff who flew other helicopters.
He ensured they carried water, gas masks, helmets and fireproof clothing they typically used when assisting in firefighting.
Once he arrived at the island and assessed the scene from the air, it was apparent a strong eruption had occurred and he noticed a damaged helicopter that had been blown off a helipad.
He continued to circle before spotting what looked like people on the ground.
“It was just right beside the column of ash and that’s when I started to see a lot of people, once my eye tuned into looking for humans in the ash.
“I then realised very quickly that there was a whole bunch more [people] there. I didn’t miss a beat.
“You just keep looking around and then straight away you’re thinking, okay, these people, they need help.”
Law said he did not see any movement from the bodies and he realised how challenging conditions were once landing on a helipad nearest to where he could see people.
“As soon as I cracked the door open and started breathing the local environment, it was brutal. So at that stage, I chucked the mask on and proceeded on towards where the folks were.
“Started walking through the ash towards where the people were, there was a lot of noise, hissing, roaring, coming from the volcano vent and obviously there was ash falling.”
Law said it was difficult to see the extent of people’s injuries.
He said the ash was like talcum powder and made it difficult to identify blood or wounds.
“From a distance, burn injuries weren’t as obvious because there’s a thick layer of ash on people.
“But when we got close and right down, I could see, for example, people were missing eyebrows or had no skin left on their faces.
“Once we started handling people to get them into the helicopters, it immediately became clear how serious the injuries were. Skin was separating from bodies as we lifted them up.
“Some people had full blisters down their entire limb that slipped off and or hung down when we lifted them up.”
The pilot said while he and staff were on Whakaari the volcano was constantly making noise and ashing.
“At one point, it made a big enough noise that we were concerned it would erupt again and we were preparing to throw ourselves over the individuals.
“It was a hell of a noise and so we both just dived down over people and then once it sort of passed and nothing happened, we looked at each other and you both could tell a bit of a sigh of relief,” he said.
Law and his co-workers from Kahu NZ Helicopters moved through the island trying to identify the deceased and survivors.
He said they provided aid where they could by going person to person.
“Most had ash covering their faces, so I just tried to clear their mouths and noses so they could breathe. It was a very intense situation and a real mix.
“Some I could tell were clearly dead. Others I thought were in the early stages of dying. Others seemed to be in marginally better shape, but everyone was covered in ash and debris.
“When you give someone a really good old shake, get down and have a listen, because you’re down there cleaning the ash out of their mouth and trying to free up their airways, you’re looking for dust moving around their nostrils, their face, trying to feel their chest for rise, things like that.”
Law said he did have first aid experience because of his military background and had assessed people being deceased before the 2019 eruption.
He said while doing his best to triage and provide aid to survivors he was surprised to hear emergency services wouldn’t be coming.
The inquest has been told that all 39 people who were rescued from the island on the day of the eruption were transported away by civilian boats and helicopters.
Law said tragically, there were instances when victims died while they were in the process of loading them into the aircraft or during the flight back to the mainland.
“I had my headset on, so things were a bit muffled by way of voice. I was looking around all the time at people and calling them.
“I had an issue with the windscreen, it was caked in ash. So I couldn’t really see out the front properly. I was just sort of flying through the little gap and then looking out the side of the aircraft.
“The priority was just to keep talking and hopefully people responded to that voice going on in the helicopter.”
Law will continue to give evidence at the inquiry on Tuesday, November 11.
The coronial inquest in Auckland aims to re-establish the facts of the case and make findings and recommendations to prevent similar disasters.
– RNZ