Seaplane rescues ill woman from launch in Hauraki Gulf

A seaplane has a made a mercy dash to fly a gravely ill woman off a launch in the Hauraki Gulf today.

Coastguard Northern duty officer Melissa Ousey said a distress call went out this morning after a woman in her 40s collapsed on a charter launch at Hooks Bay at the north-eastern end of Waiheke Island.

She said the Auckland Seaplanes passenger plane was the closest craft to the launch and took a detour in its normal scenic flight schedule to pick up the woman needing urgent medical help.

A coastguard rescue vessel from Howick also arrived and assessed the woman to see if she was up to flying the short trip across the gulf.

Ousey said the woman, who had been unconscious for a short period of time, was flown alongside day-trip passengers to the Marine Rescue Centre at Mechanics Bay where paramedics on board a police vessel helped transfer her to a waiting ambulance.

She was taken to Auckland City Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, her partner on board the charter vessel was taken by the coastguard vessel back to Auckland so he could join her at hospital.

Ousey said it was the first time in a while the seaplane had been involved in a water rescue. While it often responded to distress broadcasts today it was just five minutes away from the emergency and the closest of all rescue vessels to the stricken woman.

She said it was a great demonstration of all round teamwork praising Auckland Seaplanes for their help in the rescue effort.