U.S. Air Force personnel rescued a mother and her sick child from a Carnival cruise ship hundreds of miles off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean last Saturday.
According to reports, the dramatic rescue unfolded aboard the Carnival Venice in a remote area about 400 miles from the mainland United States. news release From the 920th Rescue Wing.
Two teams of combat rescue personnel and pararescue personnel from Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, sprung into action and flew “within hours of the call” for help.
It took crews eight hours to carry out the rescue, flying two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and two HC-130J Combat King 11s.
Because the ship was far from sea, three air-to-air refuelings by helicopter were required to “extend the duration of the mission” to take into account the “dynamic situation”.
Once at the ship’s location, rescue personnel aboard one of the HH-60s had to lower the hoist and retrieve the mother and child from the ship.
Photos of the daring rescue show an unidentified woman and her son being hoisted from the ship’s deck into a helicopter.
The boy and his mother were safely taken to a helicopter and received medical treatment on the way back to the mainland.
The cause of the medical emergency was not immediately clear, but officials said “the patient was safely transported to a U.S. hospital.”
“Everyone on the wing mobilized at an extraordinary speed,” said Capt. Dylan Gunn, a pilot with the 301st Rescue Squadron.
“Working together, we saved critical time and were able to deliver lifesaving aid six hours faster than other response teams. Our collective determination and efficiency ensured that we The rescue and transport of the person was successful.
Helicopters flew 1,200 miles in the air and accomplished the heroic rescue.
The Venice was returning to New York City after making various stops in the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
After the medical airlift, the ship continued its voyage to New York, making a port call on Monday.
The daring rescue came less than two months after the U.S. Coast Guard airlifted a woman suffering from complications to a Disney cruise ship located approximately 290 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean.
Video posted by the U.S. Coast Guard shows rescue workers being lowered onto the Disney Fantasy on April 15, then hoisted up by an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter and taken to a hospital.
