When was the first civilian helicopter rescue?
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When was the first civilian helicopter rescue?
I was reading HeliNews here in OZ, a half baked heli mag ostensibly aimed at students pilots, and it said under the title “Saving Lives In New Zealand” that;
“They (Kiwi's) set up the world’s first civialian rescue service in the summer of 1970-71 on Aucklands West Coast using a Hiller 12e at a place called Piha beach”
Now that’s a big call. A little Google’ing revealed that REGA were conducting rescues in Switzerland in 1966.
"Already as early as 1966, Rega carried out its first rescue missions in the Urnerland region of central Switzerland. At that time, Swiss Air-Rescue commissioned the helicopter firm, Heliswiss, to fly missions on its behalf from Erstfeld, primarily for injured mountain hikers and climbers."
So, does any one definitively know when the first civilian rescue organisation helicopter rescue took place?
When, where, who and in what?
HeliNews, remain standing.
“They (Kiwi's) set up the world’s first civialian rescue service in the summer of 1970-71 on Aucklands West Coast using a Hiller 12e at a place called Piha beach”
Now that’s a big call. A little Google’ing revealed that REGA were conducting rescues in Switzerland in 1966.
"Already as early as 1966, Rega carried out its first rescue missions in the Urnerland region of central Switzerland. At that time, Swiss Air-Rescue commissioned the helicopter firm, Heliswiss, to fly missions on its behalf from Erstfeld, primarily for injured mountain hikers and climbers."
So, does any one definitively know when the first civilian rescue organisation helicopter rescue took place?
When, where, who and in what?
HeliNews, remain standing.
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