Success for the annual award that New Zealand reserves to aircraft operators performing SAR (Search and Rescue) missions. It is an event of national importance for a service which, considering the geographical conformation of the country and the wild nature of its landscape so loved by tourists, is fundamental. In fact, there are few road communication routes and therefore some places are inaccessible.

This is why every year the 'New Zealand Search and Rescue Awards 2022' is hosted in the halls of the New Zealand Parliament. The Gold Award was won by the crew of the Northland Rescue Helicopter company, based in the far north of the country. Recognitions also went to the aviation departments of the police, public administrations and companies specialized in sea rescue operations.

The recipients of the grand prize, the Gold Award, were pilot Lance Donnelly and co-pilot Alex Hunt, as well as paramedics Josh Raravula and Paul Davis, who operate aboard a Sikorsky S-76C helicopter (registration NZ-HQO). The choice fell on them thanks to a night rescue operation, carried out in difficult weather conditions, which made the difference between life and death, managing to identify some survivors in the middle of a stormy sea, after a shipwreck.