Health and safety charges made against heroic pilots who rescued White Island survivors

Red Sky in the morning

A year after White Island erupted, NZ government department Worksafe is prosecuting the first responders.

Mark Law, a helicopter pilot with Kāhu​ NZ, Tim Barrow and colleagues from Volcanic Air flew out and landed on the smouldering island to rescue some survivors – particularly members of the group that had been closest to the erupting crater. They did what they could because the emergency services were told not to respond.

They flew into hell but they were not honoured for their heroism. Jacinda Adern took the credit for the response, even though she had nothing to do with it: ‘How good is Jacinda Ardern’: People applaud NZ PM.

The locals were on their own. “When the eruption occurred, and the emergency calls started on Monday afternoon, police and rescue services decided that they would not head to the island to help.” Source: After Whakaari/White Island, it’s up to us to…

View original post 282 more words