Source: Radio New Zealand
Graham Garnett, 66, was meant to return on 30 December. Supplied / NZ Police
The radar technology being used to search for a tramper lost in the Kahurangi National Park has long been used on ski-fields, but is now increasingly also used for other searches, the Mountain Safety Council says.
Police will be using a helicopter mounted Recco radar system in their search for 66-year-old Graham Garnett on Tuesday.
Garnett was expected to return from a tramp in the Baton/Ellis River area of Kahurangi National Park on 30 December.
Police will use a helicopter-mounted RECCO technology radar to assist with search efforts, and have asked other people to steer clear of the search areas.
Mike Daisley, chief executive officer of the Mountain Safety Council, said the radar picked up on people with the specific Recco strips in their gear. The system had long been used in ski fields and alpine environments, particularly to find people caught in an avalanche, he said.
“Within New Zealand, using it in a wider land based [search], that’s a fairly new thing.
“That’s mainly based on the different types of clothing and equipment manufacturers now putting this in more general items, rather than just in very specialist alpine clothing.”
Daisley said the radar would easily pick up the gear with the specific RECCO strips, but could also pick up other metal.
“Small parts of backpacks have often got little pieces of aluminium and other metals, or even in your rain hood of your rain jacket, and they may be detected. That’s why police are asking other people to stay out of the area.”
Drone used in second search
Another search is underway near Lake Ōhau in the Mackenzie Basin for 20-year-old Connor Purvis, who has not been seen since he went to climb Mt Huxley on Tuesday last week.
Connor Purvis. Supplied / NZ Police
Police said they would be deploying a drone to assist search efforts, as long as weather conditions held.
Daisley said drone use was also increasingly common by LandSAR and police in searches.
“Overseas they have been used for some time, but as drone technology has become a bit more approachable in price and the range of this equipment has increased, it is growing in its use.”
Drones could be easier to deploy than a small plane or helicopter, but still had limited range and were much more impacted by the weather conditions, he said.
Daisley said the main bit of advice for people heading out on tramps, particularly for those doing longer trips, was to take some form of emergency communication device and not just rely on cell phone technology.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
