I am wondering if in NZ you guys had something similar to this:
several years ago, each flight had to report it's position points along track, and adjust estimates for the next position when they varied by more than 2 minutes, much like IFR flights have to do now. Along came Dick Smith, and all this was abolished for VFR flights because it was cheaper and less work for the VFR pilot.
I am wondering if the cost of such searches, and there have been many in Oz since Uncle Dick's reforms, have been factored into the claimed cost cutting?
Another issue over here is the continued reluctance of VFR pilots to broadcast on area frequencies about positional information, again at the behest of Uncle Dick's reforms. Would these men have been found if they broadcast positions every now and then, or at least made an area frequency broadcast that they were changing their intended track so the tapes could be used to help track them? What would that have cost?
I hope they are found alive and well, and my thoughts go to their respective families.
Anyone know if they eventually found that guy (and his girlfriend)who went down afet going IMC in his helicopter last year near Milford Sound and Routeburn Track?