The Taranaki Rescue Helicopter has been grounded after a technical fault was found with its fuel sensors. Board chairman Bryce Barnett said the helicopter had been ”off-line” since Thursday after the problem was identified. Although parts arrived from Australia to fix it yesterday, a further technical issue was discovered this morning by an engineer during the repair process. He said he did not know what had caused the fault. A further part is currently in transit from Australia in order to resolve the problem. Barnett said although the mechanical issue was unfortunate, the bad weather over recent days meant flying would not have been possible anyway. ”We’ve actually missed no call outs because of it,” he said. Barnett said with the weather improving, the trust have arranged for a standby helicopter from Auckland to be flown to their base tomorrow to be used in any emergencies. This arrangement will be in place until the rescue helicopter is fully operational again.
