Injured Mountaineer on Biokovo Rescued by Helicopter

Lauren Simmonds

A potentially catastrophic situation above Makarska was avoided thanks to the quick response of rescuers yesterday.

As Morski writes on the 19th of August, 2018, the crew of the ETH (ATH) of the 93th Air Force Base of the Croatian Air Force (HRZ) participated in the rescue of an injured mountaineer yesterday afternoon with the help of an Mi-8 MTV helicopter.

This extremely demanding rescue mission, which lasted around three hours in total, took place in order to save and bring to safety the injured individual on the formidable Biokovo.

The rescue operation also involved members of the praiseworthy Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS), and the rescue mission took place on a very dangerous vertical rocky cliff standing at approximately 600 metres above sea level.

The captain of the helicopter Mi-8 MTV, Marko Maradin, spoke about the incident following the successful rescue action, stating that a series of events had occurred which saw piece of rock break off and injure the unlucky mountaineer’s leg.

”Whenever I’m partaking in a Biokovo rescue mission I’m just in awe of this mountain. It was a very complicated mission because it was practically done on a vertical rock where the rotor was a mere two feet away from the rocks. In addition to that, at the end of the rescue operation, the rain started to fall, and the wind got stronger, which further complicated the entire thing. HGSS members managed to lower the hiker to a lower position and stabilise his leg, and then after that, with the help of the ropes, we moved him to the football field in Baška and then on to KBC Split,” said Marko Maradin.

The rest of the flight crew was made up of co-pilot Ivan Burčul, technicians, Saša Lukić and Frane Franić.

This is the thirteenth search and rescue operation this year to have involved the flight crew of the Eskadrile transport helicopter, read a statement from the Ministry of Defense.

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

the fields marked with * are required
Email: *
First name:
Last name:
Gender: Male Female
Country:
Birthday:
Please don't insert text in the box below!

Leave a Comment