A decision by police to stand down the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter, which was on its way to search for a man missing in the Talla Burn near Millers Flat in February, was incorrect - a key decision like that should only be made by experts, a police head of search and rescue said yesterday.
Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, of Dunedin, was giving evidence in the Coroner's Court in Alexandra at the inquest of Paul William Wilson (28), of Roxburgh, who died on February 2.
The decision by Otago rural police area commander Inspector Mike Cook, of Alexandra, to stand down the rescue helicopter and instead call out a local helicopter was criticised yesterday by Snr Sgt Benn and rescue helicopter chief pilot Graeme Gale, of Outram.
Snr Sgt Benn has been officer in charge of Dunedin Search and Rescue (SAR) since 1993, SAR co-ordinator for Otago for five years, officer in charge of the water rescue squad for five years and is also a SAR instructor.
Water rescue squad members were called to travel to Beaumont on February 2 in the rescue helicopter and join the search.
On his way to the helicopter, Snr Sgt Benn asked the duty senior sergeant to check some of the details of the call and confirm the urgency of the mission.
Shortly afterwards, he was told the rescue helicopter had been stood down.
He felt "uncomfortable" about that decision, and thought the situation required an urgent response, but the operation was outside his police district.
"I didn't think he [Insp Cook] should be making that decision in the first place ... I didn't think he was the right person to be making that decision on the search at that time," Snr Sgt Benn said.
A correct decision would have been to "send the best resource we had" - the rescue helicopter.
"The lesson to be learned is that key decisions about search and rescue should be made by search and rescue experts."
The rescue helicopter returned to base but was then hired by the Wilson family to continue with the search, so it set off again.
Snr Sgt Benn calculated the stand-down resulted in a 20-minute delay in the arrival of the helicopter.
"Did it make a difference? You never know what was happening at that particular point."
Insp Cook told the inquest it was initially thought Mr Wilson had been seen in the river and had been missing for only 15 minutes.
On that limited information, sending the rescue helicopter was a "reasonable response".
He was then told Mr Wilson had been missing for about three hours and he believed it was appropriate to substitute the rescue helicopter with a local one, piloted by Doug Maxwell, who had search and rescue experience.
"I took that decision from an objective view, especially considering that delay, and especially as we were not sure if he [Mr Wilson] was in the river." He had to take into consideration the wider expanse of the search area and the cost.
Mr Gale described the decision as " a huge mistake". No-one knew if the delay caused by the stand-down might have changed the result.
"No-one knows for sure if Paul was in the water, hanging on to a rock or a branch. ... we should never, ever have been turned back," he said.
The helicopter was staffed with paramedics and a water rescue crew member and was fully equipped for search and rescue operations. Mr Gale continued with the search at the family's request as the decision by police to stand down "didn't sit comfortably with me".
Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw, of Alexandra, SAR co-ordinator for Central Otago, said he calculated, using air traffic control information, the delay in the arrival of the rescue helicopter at the search site was about nine minutes, not 20.
Mr Wilson's body was found in the Clutha River a week after he went missing.
