In the early afternoon today, a crew of the 82nd Combat Search and Rescue Center (CSAR) of the Italian Air Force took off from the Trapani military airport to help a 63-year-old man seriously injured during an excursion to the inside the Zingaro nature reserve.
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 a team of the National Corps of Alpine and Speleological Rescue (CNSAS), and then headed to the area of operation.
Thirty minutes after activation, the helicopter was already in place and after having lowered the aircraft rescuer and the two CNSAS operators with the winch, the man was recovered and transported to the same field in Castellammare del Golfo. for subsequent transport by ambulance to the nearest hospital.
After the rescue, the military crew returned to the military base in Trapani, where they resumed the search and rescue service.
The 82nd Combat Search and Rescue 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 difficulties, contributing, 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 imminent danger of life and the rescue of seriously traumatized patients, also operating in marginal weather conditions.