HOW IT UNFOLDED

2.11pm

White Island erupts. Forty-seven people – 42 tourists, four guides and a helicopter pilot – are on the island.

2.14pm

The skipper of White Island Tours’ catamaran the Phoenix alerts Coastguard Whakata¯ne and goes to the aid of eruption survivors now gathering at White Island’s jetty. More than two dozen are ferried by inflatable dinghy to the catamaran before it leaves for Whakata¯ne.

2.30pm

Geonet’s duty volcanologist Geoff

Kilgour publicly confirms the eruption and raises the volcanic alert level to four.

2.50pm - 3.05pm

Three private helicopters – two from Kahu NZ and one from Volcanic Air – leave Whakata¯ne for White Island. 3.12pm (approx)

Kahu NZ chief executive and pilot Mark Law lands on White Island, followed soon after by the pilots of the two other helicopters. A second Volcanic Air helicopter arrives later.

3.15pm

Civil Defence issues a national warning for a moderate volcanic eruption, with the potential for ashfall. 3.25pm (approx)

The civilian rescuers from Kahu NZ and Volcanic Air are told rescue helicopters are not coming to White Island after authorities deem it too dangerous to land on.

3.38pm (approx)

Whakata¯ne mayor Judy Turner confirms people were on the island when it erupted and some are hurt. Later that night, police announce aerial reconnaissance flights have found no signs of life. Four days later the Defence Force would recover six bodies.