Search H.Q. criticised

Press, 28 October 1982, Page 6

Search H.Q. criticised

PA~ Dunedin An unofficial helicopter search for the missing Cessna pilot. Mr Colin Whittlestone. on Saturday came within one gully of finding him before darkness forced the? aircraft to turn back, it was revealed last evening. The Wanaka helicopter pilot and managing director of; Alpine Helicopters. Mr Tim Wallace, said he felt Mr Whittlestone might have been found sooner if helicopters had 'been officially called into the search earlier than Tuesday. Mr Wallace put two of his company’s helicopters in the

air on Saturday for an unauthorised search, and flying one of them himself, came within one gully of the crash scene before darkness forced the search to be called off. Mr Wallace wants a public inquiry into what he sees as deficiencies in the search and rescue system. “I am not saying we would have found Mr Whittlestone then and there. Maybe we could have.” said mr Wallace. “What I am saying is that search and rescue people in Christchurch did not have the right informa-’ tion to hand to make a decision about whether heli-

copters should be used in the search." He is supported by an Alexandra helicopter pilot. Mr Douglas Maxwell, who found the crashed aircraft, and Mr Murray Cresswell, a local fixed-wing pilot. Mr Wallace also wants emergency location-finding beacons to be mandatory equipment in all aircraft in New Zealand. “If he had had an emergency beacon and if it had been activated either by the crash or by him we would have found him in under an hour of its being set off," he said.