A group of "bloody idiots'' who shone a blinding laser at a rescue helicopter from the outskirts of Dunedin can count themselves lucky the pilot's cellphone coverage was out.
After having the light shone into his cockpit just after 3am on Saturday, Heliworks Queenstown pilot Shaun Clark tracked the source of the laser to a car parked on a Halfway Bush street and was ready to call 111 and track the car until police arrived.
The only thing stopping him was the fact the Lakes District Air Rescue Trust helicopter's cellphone system was not working.
Mr Clark made the decision to track the culprits after experiencing the blinding effect of a laser only moments before as he, accompanied by a paramedic, flew back to Queenstown after dropping off a patient being transferred to Dunedin Hospital from Cromwell after a medical emergency.
The light, being shone from about 2km away, caused a "really bright flash'' in the cockpit and he initially thought his colleague was taking a photo with a flash camera.