NZ Hothouse General Manager Simon Watson and Managing Director
Brett Wharfe hand a new 406 beacon over to Crew Chief Herby Barnes.


This week, 20 Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) valued at over $600 each arrived at the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust base in Mechanics Bay, thanks to the generosity of Westpac Rescue Helicopter corporate supporter NZ Hothouse, and the Ullysees motorcycle club.

The funds were raised after ARHT, which relies on sponsorship and donations to survive, made a plea for help to purchase the new 406 beacons, to replace the out-moded 121.5 and 243 beacons.

The PLBs are for use by Auckand Rescue Helicopter crew in the event of an emergency landing or ditching on land or in water. The new technology available with the 406 beacons far outstrips the previous models, with the GPS enabled 406s able to be located once activated to a 452 square metre area, where the 121.5 and 243 models were only locatable to approximately 314 square kilometres. The signal power of the 406s is also 50 times more powerful than the previous models, which means sateillites can locate the beacons and alert Rescue Co-Ordination Centres within five minutes, where it used to be up to 90 minutes.

When the Ullysees motorcycle club, who run a fundraising motorcycle ride annually for ARHT, asked what they could help raise funds for this year, they were asked to put the beacons at the top of the list. Stepping in to foot the rest of the bill was Karaka-based NZ Hothouse, whose Managing Director Brett Wharfe wanted to help the crew with equipment, on top of donating to keep the service operating for over a decade as a valued corporate supporter.

ARHT CEO Rea Wikaira said without organisations like Ullysees and NZ Hothouse, the rescue helicopter would not be able to survive. "We exist year-to-year and rely on our community to help us to remain a highly-equipped, world-class aero-medical and search and rescue service," Mr Wikaira said. "The day that people like Brett, and those who are members of the Ullysees club, decide to stop helping us, is the day we will have to stop operating," he said. "Because of this we are humbled by such gestures of kindness, and extremely grateful."