A petition started to stop the prosecution of two helicopter pilots involved in the Whakaari/White Island rescue mission last December has received mass online support.

The petition on Change.org, entitled ‘Stop The Prosecution of the Helicopter Pilots Who Saved Lives on Whakaari/White Island', is aimed directly at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and concerns two helicopter pilots based in the Bay of Plenty.

Mark Law, CEO of Whakatane-based Kahu NZ, and Tim Barrow, Director/Chief Helicopter Pilot of Rotorua's Volcanic Air, have both spoken this week of charges laid at their door by WorkSafe regarding the events of last year.

The Whakaari/White Island volcano erupted on the December 9 with 47 people on the island and 22 people lost their lives. Read here to see original footage of the eruption.

Several more were severely injured.

This week, WorkSafe confirmed that 13 parties would face charges related to the tragedy.

Whilst none were named by WorkSafe, both Law and Barrow have since waived anonymity, confirming that their respective companies are among those charged.

Law and Barrow were two of the helicopter pilots who responded to the incident and have been credited for their life saving efforts.

The pair, along with several other commercial contractors, co-ordinated a rescue operation as emergency services deemed the area unsafe.

The petition was set up on Change.org on Thursday afternoon by Ned Dawson of Auckland and has already received over 30,000 signatures.

In his post on Change.org, Dawson comments that Law and Barrow ‘epitomise the Kiwi spirit' and should not be ‘hung out to dry' by the charges being levelled at them.

Dawson wants the government, namely PM Jacinda Ardern, to ‘throw out the charges' and instead ‘recognise the extraordinary efforts' of Law, Barrow and others on the day in question.

WorkSafe's official statement this week confirmed that 'no enforcement action” would be taken regarding the rescue and recovery operation.

The charges instead relate to events leading up to the eruption and the act of taking tourists to the island.

'We investigated whether those with any involvement in taking tourists to the island were meeting their obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015,” WorkSafe Chief executive Phil Parkes stated on Monday.

'We consider that these 13 parties did not meet those obligations. It is now up to the judicial system to determine whether they did or not. WorkSafe can't comment on the matters in front of the court.”

The charges in the case could carry maximum fines of either $1.5 million or $300,000, depending on the charge and specific section of the Health and Safety at Work Act that has been breached.