This evening, a HH-139B helicopter of the 82nd SAR Center (Search and Rescue) of the Italian Air Force, based at the military airport of Trapani, intervened to rescue a 12-year-old girl in imminent danger of life on the island of Linosa.
The request for intervention was coordinated by the Prefecture of Palermo in collaboration with that of Agrigento.
The crew on alert, which had received the mission order from the Operations Room of the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) of the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE) of the Air Squad Command of Milan, took off at 11:30 p.m. yesterday with a medical team from the San Antonio Abate Hospital in Trapani on board.
After midnight, the child was taken to the island by the crew and entrusted to the care of medical staff, before being urgently transported to the Civico Hospital in Palermo.
After the transport was completed, the helicopter returned to the Trapani base at 2:30, resuming the national alert service.
The 82nd SAR Center in Trapani is dependent on the 15th Stormo in Cervia, which guarantees 24/7 search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty, and also contributes to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in imminent life-threatening danger, and the rescue of seriously traumatized individuals, operating even in complex meteorological conditions.
From its establishment to the present day, the crews of the 15th Wing have saved thousands of people in life-threatening situations. Since 2018, the Department has also acquired AIB (Wildfire Fighting) capability, contributing to the prevention of and fight against fires throughout the national territory as part of the joint task force deployed by the Ministry of Defence.
From the 15th Wing in Cervia, in addition to the 82nd SAR Centre in Trapani, also dependent on it and dispersed across the national territory, are the 80th SAR Centre in Decimomannu (Cagliari), the 83rd SAR Flight Group, located in Cervia, the 84th SAR Centre in Gioia del Colle (Bari), and the 85th SAR Centre in Pratica di Mare (Rome).
