I stand corrected, it was an Albatross, not a Mallard.
I take the point about civil certification, and can only say in defence of the operational capabilities of the aircraft, (I'm unsure if we had "limited or experimental" then), it could surely have been granted an exemption or instrument to allow the SAR operations. Bit like the firefighters.
I'm unsure where the aircraft is now, but I think the owner went under about the same time as Sportavia at YTOC.
flying-spike;
I'd still be interested in names to double check the expert's credentials.
Vanuatu regs are based on the kiwi ones
As should the Australian Regs.