Yesterday afternoon, 5 November, the Air Force rescued a patient in need of urgent medical attention who was on board the passenger ship Queen Anne.

The rescue was carried out using an EH-101 Merlin helicopter from Squadron 751 - ‘Pumas’, which took off from Aerodrome No. 3 in Porto Santo after the Lisbon Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC - Lisbon) received the alert that a patient needed to be rescued. 

The Queen Anne was sailing more than 210 kilometres from Porto Santo when the patient was safely picked up by the rescue worker and taken to the Air Force helicopter, where first aid was administered by the aeronautical nurse. The patient was then transported to Funchal and received by a Rapid Response Medical Team, who accompanied him to a hospital. The mission lasted a total of three hours and 30 minutes of flight time.

This operation was carried out in coordination with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Lisbon (MRCC Lisbon), part of the Portuguese Navy.

This is the third ship rescue carried out by the Air Force in the last ten days, once again demonstrating its readiness and ability to respond successfully to the most demanding missions.

When we fly, we protect!