A device designed to improve search and rescue operations is now being used in New Zealand.

The RECCO SAR helicopter detector is housed at two locations: GCH Aviation, the Canterbury Westpac rescue helicopter base in Christchurch, and with the police at the Ruapehu Emergency Services base in Waimarino.  

Designed in Sweden, the helicopter detector is capable of scanning large areas of bush or alpine terrain to locate missing people. It is suspended beneath a helicopter as a sling load and allows crews to cover wide search zones quickly and efficiently.

“This could be a real life-saver when we are searching for people in the bush or  in an avalanche,” says GCH Aviation air rescue crew chief Rick Knight. 

The system works in tandem with RECCO reflectors, which can be built into   jackets, backpacks or other gear. The reflectors require no batteries or activation and can be easily detected by the helicopter locator system.

“If the lost person has a reflector in their jacket or backpack, the helicopter detector can pick up the signal quickly, whether in dense bush or avalanche conditions,” says Avalanche New Zealand and RECCO spokesperson Andrew Hobman.

New Zealand joins 32 countries already using the technology.