This afternoon, 15 November, the Air Force was called upon once again to rescue four more people from the sailing boat ‘YANNY’, following yesterday's rescue of one person.

It should be noted that the crew of the sailing boat ‘YANNY’ called for help after problems with the boat related to damage to the entire mainsail. Yesterday, the Air Force rescued one of the seven crew members who remained on board, with the rest remaining on the boat with the aim of getting the ship to land by tow.  

Today, with supplies running low and unable to sail at the expected speed, the Air Force was called in again to rescue four more people from the same sailboat.

An EH-101 Merlin helicopter from the permanent detachment of Squadron 751 was again deployed for the mission – “Pumas” at Manoeuvre Aerodrome No. 3, in Porto Santo, which took off at 3:20 p.m. and arrived in the area of operations at 4:00 p.m., after a preliminary search and rescue operation to find the exact position of the sailboat.

The mission, which took place under adverse weather conditions, ended at 5:45 p.m., totalling nearly 2.5 hours of flight time.

The remaining two crew members remained on the sailboat, hoping not to lose the vessel, and are expected to arrive on the island of Porto Santo tomorrow.

The mission, which took place about 185 km from Porto Santo, was coordinated by the Lisbon Search and Rescue Centre of the Air Force, following a request for intervention by the Air Force from the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre of the Portuguese Navy.

By flying, we protect so that others may live!