NZ volcano tragedy: Helicopter pilot Mark Law says he could have retrieved bodies from White Island

Mark Law choppered survivors off White Island. Police stopped him flying back to retrieve bodies.

Mark Law from KAHU NZ was “gutted” when police stood pilots down on Monday, preventing them from retrieving bodies from White Island. Picture: Adam Yip

The bodies of eight people left on White Island could have been retrieved on Monday, but the pilots who carried survivors to safety were told to stand down.

Helicopter pilot Mark Law believes conditions were fine to retrieve the bodies on Wednesday, despite New Zealand Police saying that it was too dangerous.

Mr Law told The Australian that he had wanted to retrieve to bodies soon after he had brought back a group of survivors on Monday, and was “just gutted” when he and two other pilots were “stood down”.

“If we made one more trip we probably would’ve got everyone,” Mr Law said.

“One trip out with the three helis.”

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He said he knew the locations of the bodies as they were found next to survivors on the island on Monday.

“We’re just fortunate enough to be able to go there early on in the helicopters to pick them up, so we know where the folks are that we couldn’t get. Amid the people that were survivors there were people that were dead.

“We took the people that were alive. That was the focus – to get them out as quickly as we could.

“We would have gone back and got the deceased but we were stood down.”

Acting Assistant Commissioner Bruce Bird said on Wednesday morning that authorities have been checking conditions on the island every two or three hours, hoping to get the all-clear to retrieve the bodies of eight people who have been missing – presumed dead – since the volcanic eruption on Monday. However police say conditions on the island are too dangerous to mount a recovery operation.

A drone was flown to the island at about 8.30m local time (6.30am AEDST) on Wednesday morning, but “we will not be moving there until the situation is safe for us”.

Police later confirmed that no retrieval operation went ahead.

Despite the horrific scenes and injuries he saw on the island on Monday, Mr Law said he would not support any bans on landing there.

He said his Kahu helicopter business would be “affected significantly” because of the eruption.

“It’s going to shake up the tourism industry and will definitely be a real detriment to our business,” he said.