During the night a 25-year-old man in imminent danger of life was transported from Bari Palese to Turin aboard 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 having boarded the ambulance with the patient and a medical team on board, took off from Bari Palese airport shortly after midnight for the Piedmontese capital.
The transport request was received from the prefecture of Bari to room top situations of the command of the air team, the Air Force operational room which has among its tasks that of organizing and managing this type 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 Italian 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.
Every year, hundreds of flight hours are carried out for this type of work by the planes of the 46th Pisa Air Brigade, the 31st flock of Ciampino, the 14th flock of Pratica di Mare and - for some special needs - helicopters are also used of the 15th flock of Cervia and the centers Combat SAR (Search and Rescue) employees.
