The operation was carried out in collaboration with the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps. Yesterday evening, Wednesday 29 July, a crew from the 84th Combat Search and Rescue Centre (C.S.A.R.) of the Italian Air Force’s 15th Wing took off from the military airport at Gioia del Colle (BA) to rescue a 27-year-old hiker who had been injured in a fall on Mount Manfriana. The military crew, on national standby, flying an HH-139 helicopter, received orders to carry out the rescue from the Rescue Coordination Centre at the Italian Air Operation Centre in Poggio Renatico (FE). The helicopter took off at around 6.30 pm and headed for the sports ground in Fracineto (CS), where it picked up two members of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps, before proceeding to the scene of the incident. The injured young man was located, partly with the aid of night-vision goggles, and subsequently transported safely to Fracineto, where an ambulance was waiting to provide the necessary medical care. Once the rescue operation was complete, late in the evening, the Italian Air Force helicopter returned to Gioia del Colle, where specialist technicians at the base carried out maintenance on the aircraft, thereby ensuring that national SAR readiness could continue to be maintained. The 84th CSAR Centre in Gioia del Colle – together with the other SAR Centres based at the airports of Pratica di Mare (RM), Cervia (RA), Trapani and Decimomannu (CA) – guarantees round-the-clock search and rescue operations for flight crews in distress, 365 days a year, as well as contributing to public service activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of critically ill patients and the rescue of those with serious injuries, forest firefighting operations, and Slow Mover Interception (SMI) missions during major events. The Italian Air Operation Centre (IT-AOC) is the operational arm of the Aerospace Operations Command, responsible for supervising, coordinating and approving day-to-day operational flight activities for all the Armed Forces and Armed Corps of the State.
