The man was on board his sailing boat off the Lazio coast, adrift due to the prohibitive sea conditions
The rescue mission of a French sailor who was adrift off the Lazio coast aboard his boat now out of control due to adverse sea conditions ended overnight. The HH139 helicopter of the 85 Research and Rescue Center of Pratica di Mare, one of the centers of the 15 Stormo located on the national territory and always taking off for this kind of emergency, took off on the orders of the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico, at its once activated by the Maritime Rescue Sub Center (MRSC) of Civitavecchia given the impossibility of intervening by sea.
Despite the adverse weather conditions, the crew managed to locate the vessel, and stationed in flight on its vertical to lower an Airborne rescuer, which then recovered the man with the winch.
After returning to the base, the same helicopter was again activated for a new mission, for the search for a missing person at sea off the coast of Terracina, unfortunately ended in this case with a negative outcome.
The 85 ° Center is one of the Departments of the 15 ° Stormo of the Air Force that guarantees, 24 hours on 24, 365 days a year, without interruption, the search and rescue of the crews in flight in difficulty, competing, in addition, to public utility activities such as the search for missing at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in danger of life and the rescue of serious traumatized, operating in any meteorological condition. Since its establishment to date, the crews of the 15 ° Stormo have saved more life-threatening people than 7300.