The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Crew landed the Westpac Rescue Helicopter at Caroline Bay last month and invited 60 to 70 people who helped fundraise for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) in Mid and South Canterbury with speeches and afternoon tea at Sopheze on the Bay. Deputy Mayor Steve Wills addressed the group sharing his story alongside patient and now Ambassador, Andrew Hurst form Fairlie.
The helicopter is equipped with a new navigation system allowing it to fly even in low cloud touched down in Timaru for the first time as part of a training mission.
This high-tech system, called Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), cost about $300,000 to implement across Canterbury and is expected to boost the number of call-outs rescue pilots could respond to by up to 30%
A special thank you to supporters the Mid-South Canterbury Trust, St Vianney’s Trust and many individuals. We also welcomed some of the Westpac team and Paul Johnston, one of our Ambassadors with the Freemasons team.
This initiative alongside the new Timaru Hospital helipad means patients requiring inter-hospital transfers can be at Christchurch Public Hospital within 40 minutes.
Thank you all.
