The little girl, whose life was in imminent danger, was transported aboard a Falcon 900 aircraft of the 31st Wing of the Italian Air Force

An urgent medical flight from Catania to Rome, carried out using a, concluded in the early afternoon of today, Tuesday 25 March. Falcon 900 del 31st Wing of the Air Force in aid of a two-year-old girl.

The child, in a very serious state of health and imminent danger to life, admitted to’G. Martino University Hospital of Messina, she needed urgent specialist medical care, which made the immediate intervention of the Italian Air Force aircraft necessary. Having arrived by ambulance at Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, the little girl was boarded onto the Falcon at around 12:00, accompanied in flight by a family member and constantly assisted by a medical team. From there, once the boarding operations were completed, the flight headed towards the military airport of Ciampino (RM), home to the 31st Wing of the Air Force, where the aircraft landed after a flight of about an hour.

Waiting for the little girl at the airport was an ambulance from the’Bambino Gesù Hospital“ in Rome, where the little girl was immediately transported to receive specific treatment.

The crew of the 31st Wing subsequently resumed operational readiness service at Ciampino airport, the headquarters of the flight department.

The flight, requested by Prefecture of Messina and authorised by Prime Minister's Office, it was immediately arranged and coordinated by the Summit Situation Room of the Air Squad Command / 1st Air Region, the Operations Room of the Air Force, whose duties include activating and managing urgent medical transports, giving the take-off order to the aircraft that the Armed Force keeps ready, 24 hours a day, for these kinds of emergencies from various bases.

Missions of this kind require acting with Utmost promptness, guaranteed by meticulous organisation and well-established procedures. Hundreds of flight hours are carried out each year by Italian Air Force aircraft for urgent medical transports, both for people in life-threatening conditions and for medical teams and/or organs, for humanitarian flights or, again, for search and rescue missions.

Crews of 31st Wing of Ciampino, of 15th Air Wing of Cervia and of SAR Centres (Search and Rescue) employees, of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa and 14th Practice Wing of Pratica di Mare They are ready 365 days a year, on a seamless basis, to take off in a very short time, with aircraft and crews capable of operating, even in complex meteorological conditions, for any destination in Italy and abroad upon request from Hospitals, Prefectures and, in the case of overseas missions, from diplomatic representations.