Rescue Pilot

The daring adventures of a New Zealand search and rescue Pilot.

'Somewhere, up ahead, a person is bleeding, but you have to put that out of your mind. Your job is negotiating with time and space. You have your clock, that person has their own, and in the end, whether the rate at which your clock is ticking matches theirs is out of your control.'

Often referred to as a ‘search and rescue daredevil’, John Funnell is one of New Zealand’s longest serving and most respected search and rescue pilots, having clocked an incredible 19,000 hours of flying time.
Rescue Pilot shares stories from his 49 years flying search and rescue helicopters all over New Zealand – and beyond. John is a hero to the thousands of victims he has transported to safety over the years, and is perhaps best known for his unprecedented 1200-kilometre mission to save a MetService employee attacked by a shark on the remote subantarctic Campbell Island.
Fearless and prepared to give pretty much any mission a go, John boasts a remarkable aviation career. What's more, he's a natural-born story-teller, and the adventures he recounts are utterly gripping.