The man was on board the cruise ship Artania approximately 180km off Arbatax. Late yesterday evening, Friday 2 November, an AB 212 helicopter from the 80th Combat SAR (Search And Rescue) Centre in Decimomannu, part of the Air Force's 15th Wing, intervened to rescue a crew member of the cruise ship Artania, who was suffering a serious illness and was in imminent danger of death. The helicopter took off from the military airport in Decimomannu shortly before 10 PM following activation by the Rescue Coordination Centre of the Air Operations Command in Poggio Renatico (FE), the Air Force's coordination centre for air rescue. After approximately one hour of night flying, carried out using special Night Vision Goggles, exclusively issued to military crews, the AB 212 helicopter reached the cruise ship and began the procedures to recover the man using a winch-operated stretcher. Once the boarding operations were completed, the Decimomannu crew proceeded rapidly to the Brotzu hospital in Cagliari, where the patient was handed over for specific medical treatment. The 80th Combat SAR (Search & Rescue) Centre is one of the units of the Air Force's 15th Wing, which guarantees search and rescue for flight crews in distress 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It also participates in public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in danger of death, and the rescue of seriously traumatised individuals. Since its establishment to the present day, crews of the 15th Wing have saved approximately 7,300 people in danger of death.
