INF 2.1 Partenavia

Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol use aircraft belonging to Canterbury Aero Club in their search operations.

We don’t do this to be rewarded

The Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol  volunteer crew are well trained in search and rescue operations.

In the twelve months to 30 June 2010 the 36 professional volunteers of Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol

• gave 1,829 hours of service, 17% up on last year
• spent  834 in training activities
• responded to 1 call for assistance from the Maritime NZ Rescue Coordination Centre

Since July 2010

Our Volunteers have

• given 413hours of service
• spent 285 hours  in training activities

Keeping our Community Promise – Saving lives at sea

Recent Search & Rescue operations involving Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol  are

Search for missing woman

13th August 2010 Police tasked the volunteers of Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol to undertake and aerial shoreline and coastal waters search off Motunau, North Canterbury for a missing woman.    After a searching the area between Motunau Beach and the Waimakariri River mouth for three hours no sign was found and the crew returned to Christchurch.

Search for Yacht

18^th January 2009, the Rescue Coordination Centre tasked Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol to search for the yacht ‘Sounds Good’ which was overdue on a journey from Kaikoura to Lyttelton. In an operation taking four hours the yacht was located, photographed, its location logged using GPS and reported to the RCC. The yacht later arrived in Lyttelton under tow from a fishing vessel. The Skipper had previously become disoriented and taken into Kaikoura by Coastguard Kaikoura.

Diver Lost off Timaru

After diving the shipwreck of the Holmglen 17km off the coast of Timaru diver Kevin Bailey of Blenheim failed to surface with his two diving companions on 10^th November. CAP Canterbury were tasked by the Maritime NZ Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) to search the sea area and left Christchurch at 2.46pm arriving at the search area at 3.20pm. Using the search area coordinates provided by the RCC the pilots and observers flew a search pattern covering the area until around 5pm when they returned to Christchurch to refuel. A second crew was readied to continue the search but stood down by the RCC. The body of the diver was recovered by a fishing vessel some days later.

Search for Missing Men and Naiad

29 October CAP Canterbury joined other local Coastguard Units to search for two men who failed to reach Lyttelton from the pipeline operation of the Brighton beach. With the body of one man found the night before the aerial search for the second man commenced at 5.50am with one plane, but was suspended due to low cloud just after 7am. The weather cleared enough for two planes to recommence the search at 1pm that afternoon and continue until just before 8.30pm that evening. During the day the planes refuelled and changed crew. After searching well over 100 square km of sea no sign of Mr Utteridge, neither the missing Naiad vessel, nor any debris was found. CAP Canterbury volunteers express their sympathy to the families of Mr Campbell and Mr Utteridge.

Volunteer with Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol

Saving lives creates a special camaraderie that is unique to those who have experienced it. But in typical Kiwi fashion, our crew’s prefer to remain humble about it. If you are prepared to put in the time and effort to be a Coastguard Professional Volunteer contact us by email.

We don’t do this alone

Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol could not operate without the continued, generous support of New Zealanders.

Two special supporters are

• Lion Foundation
• Pub Charity

To make a donation and join our team in saving lives at sea please use the ‘Donate Now’ button above to access our donations page and indicate CAP Canterbury in the message section. Thank you for your support.

Where we come from

Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol started in 2006.