A baby just one day old and in imminent danger of life travelled aboard an Italian Air Force aircraft

The emergency medical transport of a 1-day-old baby from Cagliari to Ciampino, carried out with an F50 aircraft of the Italian Air Force, concluded shortly before 9 pm.

The young patient, whose life was in imminent danger, urgently needed to be transferred from the “Duilio Casula” Hospital in Monserrato (Cagliari) to the “Bambino Gesù” Children's Hospital in Rome.

Specifically, the little patient travelled inside an incubator, monitored and assisted by a medical team and accompanied by their parents.

This type of activity for the benefit of the community is one of the institutional tasks carried out by the Italian Air Force. The life-saving flight was activated, at the request of the Prefecture of Cagliari, by the Air Force Summit Situation Room, which immediately involved the 31st Wing, one of the Units that carries out operational readiness service for this kind of mission.

Once all the necessary procedures had been carried out by the military crew, the aircraft took off from Ciampino airport and landed at Cagliari Elmas, where the newborn was immediately embarked on the aircraft for emergency transport. After landing at Ciampino Airport, which took place shortly before 21:00 local time, the ambulance headed to the “Bambino Gesù” paediatric hospital in Rome for subsequent admission.

The Italian Air Force's flight departments are available to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with aircraft and crews capable of operating, even in complex weather conditions, to ensure the urgent transport not only of individuals in imminent danger of life, but also of organs, medical teams, or ambulances.

Hundreds of flight hours are carried out each year for this type of operation by aircraft from the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare, the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, and by helicopters from the 15th Wing of Cervia.