This afternoon a helicopter from the 84th CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) Center in Gioia del Colle took off to recover a passenger from a cruise ship at Bari-Palese airport for transport to the hospital
In the early afternoon of today, Wednesday 07 September, a HH139A helicopter from the 84th CSAR Center in Gioia del Colle, intervened to rescue a passenger who, while navigating aboard a cruise ship, was caught by a sickness.
The intervention of the military aircraft, which took off around 14:00 from the Pugliese base, was necessary to allow the patient to be able to reach the nearest hospital in the shortest possible time.
On reaching the ship, which was located about 20 miles north of Bari, the rescue aircrafts were activated, guaranteeing immediate boarding of the patient through the use of the winch. Having landed around 15.10 pm at Bari Palese airport, the man was entrusted to the ambulance for the first medical treatment and medical transport until he reached the nearest hospital. The helicopter then returned to the Gioia del Colle base where it resumed operational readiness service.
This afternoon's transport, requested by the 6th Maritime Rescue Sub Center of the Bari Coast Guard, was coordinated by the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), the operational structure of the Aerospace Operations Command that also supervises and coordinates types of missions such as transport emergency health care.
The 84th CSAR Center is one of the Departments of the 15th Wing of the Italian Air Force which guarantees, 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, without interruption, the search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty, competing moreover, to activities of public utility such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in danger of life and the rescue of seriously traumatized patients, also operating in marginal weather conditions.