Sicily: 82nd SAR Centre helicopter rescues a foreign tourist injured during an excursion in the Zingaro Nature Reserve

The operation was carried out in collaboration with the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps

In the very early afternoon of today, a crew from the 82nd Search and Rescue (S.A.R.) Centre of the Italian Air Force took off from the military airport of Trapani to rescue a 60-year-old man who was seriously injured during a hike inside the Zingaro nature reserve – San Vito lo Capo (Trapani).

The Italian Air Force crew, on national SAR readiness duty with an HH-139B helicopter, received an immediate scramble order from the operations room of the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) of the Aerospace Operations Command in Poggio Renatico (FE).

The aircraft first headed to Castellammare del Golfo to embark two operators of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (C.N.S.A.S.), before heading towards the operations area.

Having reached the casualty, the air rescuer and the two C.N.S.A.S. operatives first secured the casualty before proceeding to hoist the man, who was securely strapped into a suitable stretcher, by means of a winch. The tourist, of German nationality, was transported to the Sant'Antonio Abate Hospital in Trapani, where he was handed over to the care of the medical staff.

Once the rescue was complete, the military helicopter first dropped off the C.N.S.A.S. technicians near Castellammare del Golfo before returning, after about two hours of flight, to the Trapani military base, where it resumed search and rescue standby duty.

The 82nd Search and Rescue Centre is one of the units of the 15th Wing of the Italian Air Force which guarantees, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, without interruption, the search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty, also contributing to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, emergency medical transport of patients in imminent danger of life, the forest firefighting campaign and the rescue of severely traumatised patients, operating even in marginal weather conditions.