Source: Radio New Zealand
The Life Flight Westpac Rescue Helicopter searching in the Paekākāriki Hill area on 28 January 2026. Samuel Rillstone
A new system to fix gaps and get search-and-rescue helicopters and planes to emergencies faster was tested late last year and sped up rescues.
This is revealed in newly released papers, which also showed officials met last month to decide whether to roll it out nationally – and now say this “will take some time”. An informed source suggested two to three years.
RNZ has been asking for months if there are coordination problems between agencies that are delaying helicopers or planes getting to rescues.
Agencies have played that down but documents and emails showed tensions between Police and Fire and Emergency for at least two years.
But neither mentioned the project begun in 2023 to try to cut duplication and speed up deployments.
The new OIA papers from NZ Search and Rescue (NZSAR) showed that in a test of the new system in October 2025, police stepped back and instead the Rescue Coordination Centre at Maritime NZ made the deployment decisions, primarily about helicopters.
“Agencies have reported increased collaboration and positive engagement, with the trial supporting more accurate and timely responses,” said a minute.
The papers showed no specific role for FENZ in a new system.
Last Friday, pressed over the decision last month, officials said a “workstream” to look at what a new system would need and how it could be implemented had begun.
“This will take some time and is only in the early stages of development,” said Maritime NZ, that leads it.
‘This is a duplicated effort’
RNZ has repeatedly asked police and Fire and Emergency in recent months if search and rescue services needed improving.
Neither mentioned the aviation coordination project. Nor did the NZSAR or the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC).
Since December RNZ has revealed eight ropes (lines) rescues over the last two years that had problems between police and FENZ.
The minutes from NZSAR meetings with police, FENZ, ambulance, defence, Transport Ministry and other agency SAR leaders since 2022 shed more light on this.
“There have been multiple incidents where aviation tasking has been queried,” said a minute in May 2023.
Ninety percent of the aviation operations were with helicopters.
Police told another 2023 meeting that FENZ had not coordinated in instances where police already had a rescue in place, .
“This is a duplicated effort. This is happening more frequently in the wider sector.”
A cliff rescue in Northland in January 2026. NZ POLICE / SUPPLIED
‘An important step’
So about this time they set up the aviation coordination project led by police, RCC and NZSAR.
By late last year it had identified “gaps in information and communications systems”.
It also indentified the key constraint: “Reliance on manual systems and poor system interoperability.”
The five-week test last October-November resulted in “more accurate and timely responses” and appeared to save money.
In December 2025, the agency leaders “discussed the need to streamline the callout process”.
They said the test overall “marks an important step in strengthening New Zealand’s SAR capability and ensuring aviation assets are deployed effectively and efficiently.”
The Tranport Ministry since 2023 had been pushing for prompt improvements. Three years on, it referred to a new “workstream” being set up in March.
NZSAR told RNZ on Friday, “This work is at an early scoping stage.”
‘Aviation tasking has been queried’
RNZ’s reporting has shown that since April 2024 FENZ lines (ropes) rescuers and their managers had protested to their bosses about police blocking access to helicopters or trying to sideline them from rescues, such as at rescues on Great Barrier and Waiheke islands in April 2024 when they could not get choppers.
Police SAR coordinators have since at least 2022 acted as gatekeepers for other agencies like FENZ to get an air ambulance, but if police approved it then police had to pay for it.
Regular choppers were used for search-and-rescue operations but not at night or in bad weather, when air ambulance helicopters were called on – they spent four percent of their time on search-and-rescue but at about twice the price of regular machines.
The newly released minutes from NZSAR meetings showed police had worries in 2023.
“There is concern that agencies are taking on responsibilty for coordinating searches and not using the SAR coordinating authorities [police and the RCC],” police told a meeting in May that year.
Minutes in August 2025 talked about “strong progress” but also repeatedly said they needed a better system.
“Important for all that we get aviation tasking right. Model for centralised tasking is used worldwide.”
Police’s Eagle helicopter. Supplied / NZ Police
‘Really stretched’
The rationale for setting up a new centralised system was “if police are doing the search and give RCC the aircraft tasking, then police can concentrate on the search”.
FENZ front-line rescuers had repeatedly stressed to RNZ that police had the search expertise, but FENZ often had the best and fastest means to rescue someone once their location was known.
The minutes showed the aviation coordination project immediately ran into money and capability problems.
“The team are really stretched,” the RCC told the other agencies 18 months ago.
Its general manager Justin Allan “wants to support police with the delivery of aviation, but they don’t feel well set up capacity wise”.
“Resourcing and training would have to be established. If RCC takes on all aviation and marine work, there will be a real demand pressure on capability.
“Police had asked last week for help but then it was queried who would foot the bill.” RNZ has asked police for details of what help they asked for.
The rescue resource database “needs to be uplifted”, Allan told them. The database shows where hundreds of resources are, such as choppers with winches or night-vision goggles.
‘Who pays for what’
The aviation project was initially tied to work to set new rescue helicopter standards.
A 2023 review showed the Transport Ministry wanted the standards work done as soon as practicable, and to know what extra capacity and funding was needed to run SAR aviation.
But questions about funding persisted.
In May 2025, minutes from a NZSAR meeting said, “operational clarity needed re ‘who pays for what’.”
Funding for SAR came through fuel excise duties that were under huge pressure already, increased markedly by the Iran war that had discouraged the government from raising the duties next January.
The $100,000 five-week trial of a centralised aviation coordination model took place in October last year, a year late, in the South Island, and covered 30 operations.
It improved response speed and accuracy; it also identified info “gaps” and a question of who was in charge: “Need for identification of clear SAR aviation capability lead to manage standards, training, competency and minimum equipment”.
Prior to the OIA the agencies had not mentioned the trial and have not released the full report on it.
The police said their expert on this would be available later on Monday.
FENZ referred RNZ to police and the RCC.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
