Timor rescue heroes back on safer soil

By PATRICK GOWER

The New Zealand helicopter crews who led the daring rescue mission into West Timor returned home last night.

The 27 Air Force personnel were reunited with family and friends at Whenuapai Air Base after six months in strife-torn East Timor.

They were formally welcomed on the airstrip by Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff, Defence Chief of Staff Carey Adamson, NZ commander in East Timor Jerry Mateparae and MP Brian Neeson.

On September 6, the Iroquois crews flew across the Timorese border and airlifted 43 United Nations workers to safety after four foreigners had been killed and mutilated by rioting militiamen in the town of Atambua.

Squadron leader Mark Cook, who led the mission and flew a helicopter, said it was different to anything they had done because they were "flying into the other side."

"We were flying under a lot of pressure, it was getting dark and we were planning as we went along because we didn't know what we were heading into."

He said the UN workers were surprisingly calm when the Iroquois landed to rescue them.

"But there were plenty of smiles by the time we got them back to safety in Balibo."

Mr Goff said the squadron had received accolades from military leaders worldwide, and was an example of the important role the Kiwi peacekeepers were playing in East Timor.

Herald Online feature: the Timor mission

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor