The former All Blacks great Richie McCaw, who is now a commercial pilot after retiring from rugby in 2015, has been flying rescue workers in the wake of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake in New Zealand.
McCaw has been ferrying teams to Kaikoura, where one person died in a collapsed home, and has also been flying reconnaissance missions.
“Like everyone else, I got woken up at midnight ... yeah a bit scary,” he told the New Zealand Herald, adding that he had flown the New Zealand Fire Service around the Kaikoura area to “check out all the slips and make sure everyone was accounted for”.
He said he saw a number of cracks in roads and spotted a railway line that had been pushed out over the sea by a landslip. “It would not have been a nice place to be at midnight last night,” he added.
McCaw retired from rugby union in 2015 and said his focus would turn to Christchurch Helicopters, where he is a director and shareholder. In November last year he used his flying licence to help out at Marlborough’s vineyards, where helicopters were used to battle frost.
Speaking in Dublin today ahead of Ireland's clash with the All Blacks on Saturday, Christchurch resident Sam Whitelock said: "I've spoken with my wife and some friends. Everything seems to be normal-ish. Obviously there are a few aftershocks going on but they are pretty resilient.
“They have been through similar things before so they got some really good systems in place to make sure they are doing well.”
Fellow Christchurch resident Ryan Crotty also spoke of hearing the news.
“My house is safe, and all my family and friends are all safe. It was pretty stressful yesterday when you’re trying to board a flight here but you’re not really sure what’s going on back home. You get different reports and stuff. I woke my partner up, our house is probably a little bit too close to the beach so I sent her to her mothers house because there was tsunami warnings and stuff like that. Everyone was a bit nervous. I’m glad those people were safe, but it is sad to see the loss back home.”
