Former Taupō rescue pilot John Funnell, who helped with communications as the Whakaari/White Island rescue unfolded last month, says the pilots who flew into the active volcano to search for those still alive risked their lives.
The veteran pilot, who has assisted in dozens of search and rescues missions throughout New Zealand during his lengthy career, told RNZ's Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan he just happened to be flying a plane in the area when Whakaari/White Island erupted just after 2pm on December 9, 2019.
With no direct communications possible between the island and the mainland, it became clear he could best assist by circling overhead and relaying messages between the helicopter crews and Air Traffic Control in Tauranga so they could inform medical staff and police waiting in Whakatāne.
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Mr Funnell was passing on the time they took off, how many injured people were on board, how serious their injuries were. In the early part of the rescue mission, helicopter crews could not call on any medical assistance for those they had on board.