Defence Minister Peter MacKay's explanation of why a search-and-rescue helicopter was used to pick him up from an exclusive fishing lodge in Newfoundland appears to be at odds with newly released emails documenting the July 2010 flight.

When the chopper mission was revealed in September of this year, MacKay defended his actions and said that the flight was part of a "training exercise" that gave him a chance to observe the crews working out of 9 Wing Gander.

But military emails appear to contradict MacKay's version of the events, with personnel being told that the "mission will be under the guise … of SAR (search and rescue) training."

The Department of National Defence email thread shows that officials had to scramble at the last minute to accommodate MacKay's request, which came at the end of a vacation at a fishing lodge. Some officials also expressed concern that the Cormorant chopper should be kept free, in case of a real rescue mission.

Additionally, the emails show that there were safety concerns about the flight, and crews were prepared to use a rescue hoist to get the minister onto the chopper.

The pick-up also required a separate fly-by "to see if there is a larger landing zone," according to one email.

Flight logs obtained by CTV News show that the flight cost taxpayers $29,000. But the emails also reveal DND send a Cormorant helicopter two days before to scout out the location, for a total cost of $45,000.

After the helicopter trip, MacKay stepped onto a Challenger flight and was flown to London, Ont., for a hastily arranged government press event.

Ironically, they also reveal that one military official predicted that the airlift would be risky from a public relations standpoint.

"So, when the guy who's fishing at the fishing hole next to the minister sees the big yellow helicopter arrive and decides to use his cell phone to video the minister getting on board and post it on Youtube, who will be answering the mail on that one :) .." the email asks.

The official goes on to write that "of course will comply -- given the potential for negative press though, I would likely recommend against it, especially in view of the fact that the Air Force receives (or at least used to) regular ATIs (access to information requests) …"

But the helicopter flight did become public knowledge when CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported that MacKay used one of the three Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters stationed in Newfoundland and Labrador to fly him from the private lodge to an airport in Gander.

The alternative to a flight was a 90-minute boat ride and a 30-minute drive to get to the Gander airport, according to the emails.

MacKay added that he had to cut his vacation short because of the London event, and he stressed that the flight would have been cancelled if necessary.

"Had any emergency arisen that would have required search-and-rescue access they would of course have been immediately diverted," MacKay said in the Parliament in September.

The emails were released after an access-to-information was filed into the matter.