About John Oakes

(CPL Helicopter 11,000 hours+, CPL Aeroplane)

John Oakes has worked in the New Zealand helicopter industry since 1978 and in the early 1980’s in Australia. He started pilot training in 1981, working & training in the industry until commencing full time flying in 1988. This was in Agricultural, air transport plus search & rescue roles predominantly in the Otago and Canterbury areas. He has also flown extensively in the regions of Southland and Westland.

John has been quite involved in search and rescue over the past 15 years and has done numerous mountain, sea and river rescues. He has also been involved in a few air ambulance and fire fighting jobs with CSI's smaller helicopters. John has gained a lot of job satisfaction out of the emergency work and is very pleased to have been part of the Tranz Rail Rescue Helicopter Pilot team.