Tactical Coordinator, Flight Lieutenant (FLTLT) Eric King has recently returned from being part of the dedicated crew on a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-3K2 Orion searching in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean for missing flight MH370.
A West Auckland resident, FLTLT King's responsibility on board was to coordinate aircrew, aircraft, tactics and procedures to carry out the aircraft mission safely and efficiently.
"It is a fairly unusual search, I've been doing search and rescue for nearly 20 years and I have never done anything like this before," he said.
"It is unique because of the range and size of the search area. We hope as each search area is completed that we are getting closer," he said.
The P-3K2 Orion from 5 Squadron, RNZAF, is supporting the Australian Maritime Safety Authority led search in an area situated over 2,000 kilometres from Perth, Western Australia.
"It's hard to imagine what the friends and family of those on board flight MH370 are experiencing, we keep them in our thoughts every time we head out to search."
Formerly from Moray in Scotland, FLTLT King is one of six Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel embedded within 5 Squadron as part of the RAF Interoperability Seedcorn Initiative, which places select, high-quality individuals with Allied forces.
Twelve 5 Squadron aircrew, eight maintenance personnel and an aircraft are on standby 24/7, 365 days of the year.
Flight MH370: West Auckland man helps with search
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