On Wednesday 2 March, on the sidelines of the HAI-Heli expo 2016 international helicopter show held in Louisville-Kentacky (USA), the 15th Wing of the Air Force, together with units of the Navy and the Port Authorities, was awarded the prestigious "Salute the excellence-Sikorsky Humanitarian Service Award".
The award was granted for ferry rescue operations Norman Atlantic in the Canale d'Otranto in December of the 2014. In the intervention the crews of the 15 ° Stormo, as part of an extremely complex operation and in particularly adverse weather conditions, brought 56 passengers from the ferry, on which in the meantime a vast fire and explosions in the hold were in progress.
The Air Force delegation, composed of Colonel Giuseppe Massimetti, commander of the 15 ° Stormo, Major Marco Mascari and Captain Francesco Bellovino, received the award, during the evening closing ceremony of the show, from the president of the HAI mr. Zuccaro in the presence of the chief Helicopters Division of Finmeccanica ing. Romiti.
The 15 ° Stormo guarantees, 24 hours on 24, 365 days a year, 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 life-threatened patients and the rescue of serious traumatized persons. From its establishment to today, the crews of the 15 ° Stormo have saved more than 7.300 people in danger of life.
