During the night, a 25-year-old man in imminent danger of life was transported from Bari Palese to Turin on board a C-130J transport aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa for subsequent hospitalization at the "Le Molinette" Transplant Center in Turin . The Air Force aircraft, after boarding the ambulance with the patient and a medical team on board, took off from Bari Palese airport shortly after midnight to the Piedmontese capital.
The request for transport was received by the Prefecture of Bari at the Top Situations Room of the Air Squad Command, the operations room of the Air Force which has among its tasks that of organizing and managing this kind of transport throughout the national territory.
Interventions of this type are carried out by the Air Force throughout the national territory. These are missions that require the utmost readiness and timeliness. Through its Flight Departments, the Air Force provides vehicles and crews ready to take off at any time to ensure the urgent transport not only of people in imminent danger of life, but also of organs and medical teams for transplants. The 46th Air Brigade, in particular, is the only unit of the Air Force equipped with C-130J aircraft capable of directly boarding ambulances with patients on board. This mode of transport is necessary when the sick person needs the constant support of particular medical equipment.
Hundreds of flight hours are carried out every year for this kind of interventions by the aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare and - for some special needs - helicopters are also used of the 15 ° Stormo di Cervia and the dependent Combat SAR (Search and Rescue) Centers.