EXERCISE A.M. 'SHIPWRECKED PERSON RECOVERY 2011'

On Wednesday 29 June, a complex sea rescue exercise involved an HH-3F helicopter from the 84th CSAR Centre in Brindisi. The exercise was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Schools Command, Air Division General Vitantonio Cormio, and was conducted in coordination with the Port Authority of Bari and with the assistance of an HH-3F helicopter from the 84th CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) Centre in Brindisi, which is part of the 15th CSAR Wing of Cervia (Ravenna). Flight crews from the 36th Wing in Gioia del Colle (Bari) and the 61st Wing in Lecce also participated in the activity, along with helicopter pilots and specialists from the 9th Flight Department of the State Police based in Bari Palese. Air rescue exercises are carried out periodically with the dual aim of ensuring flight personnel acquire the necessary knowledge of procedures and behaviours to adopt in the event of a drop, on land or at sea, in order to facilitate rescue operations and increase survival chances, and to maintain a high level of training for the crews of the Air Rescue Centres who, as is well known, intervene not only in the event of aircraft accidents but, increasingly often, to assist the civilian population in case of accidents or emergencies. Training in sea search and rescue, in fact, is of primary importance not only to guarantee the institutional task of rescue in the event of an aircraft accident, but also to contribute to the successful outcome of search and rescue operations for boats in distress and shipwrecked persons, which the SAR Centres are called upon to carry out in coordination with the Port Authorities. TGR Puglia 29/06/2011 7:45 PM Tele Bari 29/06/2011 13:30