The rescue of the injured woman was carried out by a helicopter from the 85th SAR Centre of Pratica di Mare.
ended in the early hours of Monday, 30 October, with a HH-139B helicopter of the 85th SAR (Search and Rescue) Centre in Pratica di Mare, the recovery of a hiker remained stuck on Monte Miletto, one of the highest peaks in the Matese mountains, in the Campobasso area.
The request for intervention from the Air Force came from National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) Molise shortly after midnight yesterday. The girl, who was injured in a particularly inaccessible area of the Matese massif, was first reached by a CNSAS team but, due to the nature of the terrain and the woman's critical condition, recovery using a winch became necessary.
The intervention by’85° SAR Centre, whose helicopter took off shortly after two in the morning from Pratica di Mare and arrived at the recovery site after about fifty minutes, immediately proved complex due to strong gusts of wind, making the recovery operations particularly long and complicated, with the need to travel away to refuel at Capodichino airport in order to continue the flight mission.
With the contribution of the alpine rescue personnel, once the polytraumatised woman was moved to a position on the mountain more suitable for helicopter recovery, it was finally possible to secure the patient, using a special air-transportable stretcher, along with one of the CNSAS technicians, to the winch lowered by the airborne crew. Once on board, around 7:00 am, the helicopter headed to the Molise Civil Protection Airbase, in Campochiaro (CB), where an ambulance and medical personnel from 118 took the patient to hospital. At this point the’HH-139B, after a second refuel at Capodichino, was able to return to Pratica di Mare and resume the Operational readiness to support the community.
The 85th SAR Centre depends on 15th Air Wing of Cervia which guarantees, 24 hours a day, seamlessly, the search and rescue of aircrews in distress, also contributing to public utility activities such as searching for missing persons at sea or in mountains, the urgent medical transport of patients in imminent danger of death, and the rescue of severely traumatised individuals, operating even in complex meteorological conditions.
From its establishment to the present day, the crews of the 15th Wing have saved thousands of people in life-threatening situations. Since 2018, the Department has also acquired AIB (Wildfire Fighting) capability, contributing to the prevention of and fight against fires throughout the national territory as part of the joint task force deployed by the Ministry of Defence.
