New Coastguard Air Patrol Plays Crucial Role in Successful Weekend Rescue

The new Coastguard Air Patrol proved its worth in gold yesterday, Sunday 12 February, after a successful search and rescue mission for a missing diver off the coast of Marsden Cove yesterday afternoon.

Coastguard’s Communications and SAR Response Centre received a call via VHF Marine Radio at 4.58pm reporting that the diver was overdue by 40 minutes and missing. Coastguard’s Whangarei based rescue vessel, Circa Rescue, was dispatched within five minutes, with Coastguard Air Patrol and a Surf Lifesaving RIB also joining the search.

Volunteers battled terrible weather conditions which made it extremely difficult for Coastguard Air Patrol and the rescue vessels to identify the whereabouts of the diver. Visibility dropped to less than one kilometre at times and a strong north easterly gusting up to 30 knots brought about strong seas.

After less than an hour of searching, the diver – a 27 year old male, was discovered by Coastguard Air Patrol who alerted Circa Rescue with a smoke flare targeting the location of the missing diver.

Coastguard Air Patrol In-Flight Coordinator, Neil Harris, says the man is lucky to be alive given the treacherous conditions the volunteers were up against.

“The sea was extremely rough with a lot of white caps and to remain warm, the diver wore his black wetsuit over his head, which made him barely visible. He had already drifted two and a half miles from the coastline and was bobbing in the waves when the yellow fins he was waving caught the eye of our observer.

“Once we spotted him, the smoke flare was dropped and Circa Rescue promptly arrived on the scene where the diver was rescued unharmed and well and taken back to Marsden Cove.
Without the bird’s eye view of an aircraft like Coastguard Air Patrol, I’m afraid to say it could have been a very different outcome.”

Coastguard Air Patrol recently began operating in Coastguard’s Northern Region area with the help of funding from The Lion Foundation and has so far assisted in several successful search and rescue operations.

In an effort to prevent similar incidents however, Coastguard is reminding divers to take a few simple steps to ensure their safety.

1. Always carry a surface signalling device to avoid separation from your vessel in addition to ensuring a dive flag is visible on your vessel.

2. Always tell someone reliable where you are diving and at what time you expect to return.

3. Plan your dive and dive your plan – planning for depth, duration and goals is vital to arriving at the surface safe and without injury. Once you have a dive plan it’s equally vital that all parties stick to the plan.

4. Always dive with a buddy – buddies are essential for safe diving and can assist you or even save your life, share air and share the adventure and do pre-dive checks.

5. Ensure your equipment is up to scratch - always undertake an annual service of life support equipment-regulator BCD, cylinder valves by a qualified technician using genuine replacement parts.