A MAN aged in his 50s has been flown to hospital after a reported gas barbecue explosion on the Central Coast.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service said it was called to the suburb south of Lake Macquarie on Sunday night.
Its crew flew a 54-year-old man to the Royal North Shore Hospital suffering burns.
The man was treated at the scene by Ambulance NSW paramedics and the helicopter's critical care medical team before he was airlifted to hospital.
Separately, the aircraft was also called to Terrigal to conduct a search after a man reportedly entered the water but did not return to shore.
The aircraft searched for about an hour at 1am on Monday before it returned to base.
No trace of the man was located.
