On Monday 30 November, at the Trapani Birgi air base, headquarters of the 82nd CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) Center of the Italian Air Force, the joint training sessions between the flight crews of the 82nd Center and the Rescuers of the CNSAS (National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps) Sicily, who saw the use of a team of 11 rescuers, in recovery activities with winch, air-landing and air-boarding in inaccessible areas with recovery from rock walls.
The activity began at the military base with the necessary preparatory briefings for the correct and safe conduct of the operations, and then continued in the exercise area, in the territory between the town of Macari and San Vito Lo Capo (TP).
The crew took off with the HH139A helicopter in the early hours of the afternoon to head to the recovery area, where the CNSAS personnel trained in the use with the winch, simulating rescuing and recovering an injured person from inaccessible areas and on steep walls , thanks also to the help of a stretcher that can be hoisted. The activity ended after about 2 hours of flight, with the return of the HH139A to the base.
Exercises of this type are essential both for the Air Force crews and for the entities that cooperate with them. In fact, the use of common procedures ensures maximum speed in the case of real use, as well as minimizing the operational risks associated with rescue interventions.
There are several real interventions of this type that are carried out every year jointly between the Air Force and the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps. In the months of July and August of 2020 alone, the 82nd CSAR and the CNSAS jointly carried out five rescue missions in favor of injured or seriously life-threatening tourists.
