{"id":254998,"date":"2026-01-28T00:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254998\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T00:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:44:09","slug":"emergency-services-rush-to-helicopter-crash-in-paekakariki-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254998\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency services rush to helicopter crash in Paek\u0101k\u0101riki Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JU3KEI_Image_jfif.jpeg\" width=\"1050\" height=\"787\" alt=\"Near the scene of helicopter crash in Paek\u0101k\u0101riki Hill area, north of Wellington.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\nPolice officers on guard near the scene of the crash.<br \/>\nPhoto: RNZ\/ Charlotte Cook\n<\/p>\n<p>This is a developing story and is being updated<\/p>\n<p>Emergency services are responding to a helicopter crash in the Paek\u0101k\u0101riki Hill area, north of Wellington.<\/p>\n<p>Police said they were notified at 7.30am by an activation of an automated crash alert.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JU3QJU_image_png.jpeg\" width=\"1050\" height=\"705\" alt=\"A rescue helicopter can be seen searching the area after a helicopter crash in Paek\u0101k\u0101riki Hill.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\nA map from Wednesday morning shows a rescue helicopter searching the area.<br \/>\nPhoto: Flightradar24\n<\/p>\n<p>Maritime NZ&#8217;s Rescue Coordination Centre is coordinating the search efforts. It told RNZ search efforts in the area were &#8220;ongoing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson said two rescue helicopters and police were at the scene, and support from Fire and Emergency was being organised.<\/p>\n<p>NZME is reporting Fire and Emergency had sent two crews from Porirua, along with their &#8220;line rescue team&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JU3JQN_Image_3_jfif.jpeg\" width=\"1050\" height=\"787\" alt=\"Scene near helicopter crash in Wellington region\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\n<p>Photo: RNZ \/ Charlotte Cook\n<\/p>\n<p>Also known as rope rescue personnel, they are trained in high-angle, vertical, or challenging terrain, often handling rescues at height or in confined spaces.<\/p>\n<p>The newly appointed police Assistant Commissioner &#8211; currently DistrictCommander &#8211; Corrie Parnell has arrived on site.<\/p>\n<p>RNZ understands authorities are currently in meetings and they are struggling to access the site because of the area and ground.<\/p>\n<p>While helicopters have been in the air this morning, an RNZ reporter at the scene says Flight Radar is no longer showing helicopters in the area.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JU3GLK_Image_7_jfif.jpeg\" width=\"1050\" height=\"787\" alt=\"police, chopper at helicopter crash scene near Wellington\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\nA helicopter flies over the search scene.<br \/>\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Charlotte Cook\n<\/p>\n<p>Rapid relief teams are also at the scene.<\/p>\n<p>The search area is near Pukerua Bay where three people died in a crash involving an Air Force helicopter on Anzac Day in 2010.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/radionz.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&amp;id=b3d362e693\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police officers on guard near the scene of the crash. Photo: RNZ\/ Charlotte Cook This is a developing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-254998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}