Press release no. 14/2016 ITALIAN AIR FORCE: 82ND CSAR CENTRE HELICOPTER FROM TRAPANI RESCUES PASSENGER IN SERIOUS CONDITION FROM CRUISE SHIP An HH139 helicopter from the 82nd CSAR Centre in Trapani carried out an urgent transport operation yesterday evening, Saturday 30th April, to rescue a passenger suffering from a gastric perforation from the cruise ship ’AIDAbella’.
The aircraft, on the orders of the Air Operations Command at Poggio Renatico, coordinating with the National Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of the Coastguard, took off from Trapani airport at 21:50 local time, rapidly reaching the vessel bound for Malta, intercepting it approximately 80 nautical miles west of Trapani.
The crew of the HH139 embarked the patient, a 58-year-old German citizen in need of urgent care along with on-board medical personnel, and then immediately headed for Trapani-Birgi airport, where they landed at 11:25 PM.
The patient was loaded into an ambulance and urgently transported to the “Sant'Antonio Abate” Hospital in the Sicilian capital.
CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) Centres are among the flying units that the Air Force makes available for timely interventions to assist the population, with aircraft and crews ready to take off 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, non-stop and capable of operating in all weather conditions.
CSAR helicopter crews are trained to recover personnel from any type of terrain, from water or from watercraft, even in extremely difficult conditions, with poor visibility and adverse weather. This makes CSAR assets a valuable resource in cases like the one that occurred last night.
The aircraft, on the orders of the Air Operations Command at Poggio Renatico, coordinating with the National Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of the Coastguard, took off from Trapani airport at 21:50 local time, rapidly reaching the vessel bound for Malta, intercepting it approximately 80 nautical miles west of Trapani.
The crew of the HH139 embarked the patient, a 58-year-old German citizen in need of urgent care along with on-board medical personnel, and then immediately headed for Trapani-Birgi airport, where they landed at 11:25 PM.
The patient was loaded into an ambulance and urgently transported to the “Sant'Antonio Abate” Hospital in the Sicilian capital.
CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) Centres are among the flying units that the Air Force makes available for timely interventions to assist the population, with aircraft and crews ready to take off 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, non-stop and capable of operating in all weather conditions.
CSAR helicopter crews are trained to recover personnel from any type of terrain, from water or from watercraft, even in extremely difficult conditions, with poor visibility and adverse weather. This makes CSAR assets a valuable resource in cases like the one that occurred last night.