Westpac rescue team member celebrates 30 years protecting generations of swimmers

Andrew McNeilly has spent three decades being the eyes in the sky for Gold Coast swimmers, but it was one ‘eye-opening’ role which saw him go from desk work to the heart of violent riots.

For thirty years he’s been the guardian angel above Gold Coast beaches.

Westpac rescue helicopter chief crewperson Andrew McNeilly has just racked up an incredible three decades’ service with the outfit, watching over generations of swimmers and surfers at some of the state’s busiest beaches.

A lifelong clubbie who started Nippers at Pacific surf life saving club while still in primary school, Mr McNeilly joined the rescue helicopter team as a 21-year-old in 1992.

Westpac rescue helicopter chief crewperson Andrew McNeilly. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

While many of his 2500 flying hours have been spent on surveillance mode, there have been dozens of rescues, including the time he leapt in to a surging swell at Alexandria Bay on the Sunshine Coast to save a teenager clinging to the cliff.

However, the humble hero was keen to downplay the rescue.

“It sounds a bit more dramatic than it actually was,” he said.

“I was fairly confident we’d be OK, it was just about timing the approach to the cliff so we didn’t get smashed by the waves.”

Many of his years as a helicopter crew member were spent as a volunteer, juggling a day job in IT with weekend shifts for surf life saving, before he took a job in East Timor for a civilian helicopter service supporting the Australian Defence Force in 2007.

Mr McNeilly shares the experience that changed his life when he flew to East Timor to support the Australian Defence Force. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“That was a real eye opener for me,” he said of the experience, which came as East Timor struggled through the early years of independence.

“About 30 minutes after we landed in Timor we were driving from the airport and I looked out the window and in the river bed below I could see a line-up of about 70 UN peacekeepers in full riot gear and a mob on the other side throwing rocks and projectiles at them and I thought “last week I was sitting at a desk in an office providing IT support”,” he said.

After further stints in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea – but always with enough leave periods to continue with the Westpac crew, he took on a full-time role with the famous rescue helicopter six years ago.

“I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to take my love of surf life saving and the helicopter stuff and turn it into a full-time job,” he said.

“And very humbled that they had faith in me to be able to do it.”

Originally published as Westpac rescue team member celebrates 30 years protecting generations of swimmers