Sicily: 82nd Centro SAR helicopter recovers foreign tourist injured during an excursion in the Zingaro Nature Reserve

The intervention was carried out in collaboration with the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps

In the very early afternoon of today, a crew of the 82nd Search and Rescue Center (SAR) of the Air Force took off from the military airport of Trapani to provide assistance to a 60-year-old man who was seriously injured during an excursion inside of the Zingaro nature reserve – San Vito lo Capo (TP).

The Air Force crew, in national SAR readiness service with HH-139B helicopter, received the immediate take-off order from the operations room of the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) of the Aerospace Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE).

The aircraft first headed to Castellammare del Golfo to embark two operators of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS), and then headed towards the area of ​​operation.

Having reached the injured person, the air rescuer and the two CNSAS operators first put the injured person in safety and then proceeded, using a winch, to recover the man suitably secured on a suitable stretcher. The tourist, of German nationality, was transported to the Sant'Antonio Abate hospital in Trapani where he was entrusted to the care of the medical staff.

Once the rescue was completed, the military helicopter first left the CNSAS technicians at Castellammare del Golfo and then returned, after about two hours of flight, to the military base in Trapani, where it resumed the search and rescue promptness service.

The 82nd Search and Rescue Center is one of the Departments of the 15th Wing of the Air Force which guarantees, 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, without interruption, the search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty , also contributing to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in imminent danger of life, the forest firefighting campaign and the rescue of seriously traumatized people, also operating in marginal weather.

Sicily: 82nd Centro SAR helicopter recovers foreign tourist injured during an excursion in the Zingaro Nature Reserve