In the early afternoon a C130J of the 46th Air Brigade and two interceptor fighters of the 51st Wing of Istrana (TV) respectively complete an ambulance flight for a very small patient of 5 months and an interception over the skies of Bolzano.
On the eve of Easter a C130J of the 46 ^ Air Brigade of the Italian Air Force transported a very small patient of 5 months in imminent danger of life. The transport, activated at the request of the Prefecture of Sassari, took place with the utmost urgency from Alghero to Genoa. It ended with the transfer of the little girl to the Gaslini hospital.
The C130J, one of the assets that the Air Force keeps ready every day and at any time for urgent medical transport, took off from Pisa airport in the late morning towards Alghero, where it boarded the ambulance carrying the small , mom and the team doctor who took care of the health care.
Almost simultaneously 2 interceptor fighters Eurofighter EF2000, in service at the 51st Wing of Istrana (TV) they received the immediate take-off order - in technical jargon "Scramble" - and intervened for identify a transport aircraft of an American airline which, during the flight over the national airspace, had lost radio contact with the civil air traffic bodies.
Once you have reached the aircraft in the area north of Bolzano, thanks to the coordinates and information provided by the staff "hunting guide"On the ground, the required procedure of"visual identification”(VID) to ensure that there were no emergency conditions or security threats. After having carried out all the necessary checks with the air traffic control bodies and restored radio contacts, the fighters returned to the Istrana military airport.
Both missions were coordinated and managed by IT-AOC, an articulation of the Aerospace Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE), responsible for the surveillance and control of the national airspace.
Through its Flight Departments, the Italian Air Force makes available to the community, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, vehicles and crews ready to take off at any time and able to operate in any weather condition to ensure transport. urgent need for people in imminent danger of life and national airspace defense missions, as happened today.
Hundreds of flight hours are carried out each year for this type of intervention by the aircraft of the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare and the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa.
Four instead are the Flocks equipped with assets Euro Fighter, which the Air Force uses for the Air Defense service: the 4th Wing of Grosseto, the 36th Wing of Gioia del Colle, the 37th Wing of Trapani, the 51st Wing of Istrana. Furthermore, since March 2018, the F35 aircraft of the 32 ° Stormo di Amendola have also been integrated into the Air Defense system, which contribute, with specific operational capabilities and latest generation technology, to the defense of the Italian skies and which were the first aircraft of 5th generation to have been employed by NATO to safeguard Alliance airspace in a Air Policing.
THEAir Operation Center National (AOC) carries out fundamental tasks in the organization of the air defense service and carries out constant supervision on the correct functioning of the device. If there is a non-military threat to Italian airspace, the IT-AOC resumes command of the interceptor aircraft entrusted to NATO, for the subsequent counter action. This happens, for example, when a civil aircraft in transit in the national airspace shows an anomalous behavior and, therefore, potentially dangerous for safety, or if it needs air support for technical problems that compromise the safety of the flight, as in the case today, due to the loss of radio communications.