On Monday 16 December 2013 the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to search for a missing walker in the vicinity of Mt Melaluca in the state’s South West.

The 65 year old man, who is an experienced walker from Victoria, activated an emergency function on a personal SPOT beacon. This alerted authorities to his approximate location.

The walker had been lost in the south west for three days due to poor weather conditions which included a low cloud base, strong winds and rain.

The helicopter flew to the area and located the walker on a ridge line just below the cloud base to the south western side of Mt Melaluca.

He was flown from the area to Hobart. He was checked by paramedics; he was cold and exhausted but otherwise in good health.