IAF evacuates Israeli national suffering from high altitude sickness in Ladakh
The No. 1 aircrew of IAF carried out a thorough recce, landed at the pass with the assistance of No. 2 and picked up the casualty from the pass in turbulent weather conditions.
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Leh, Aug 31: The Indian Air Force ( IAF ) on Wednesday (Aug 31) evacuated an Israeli national from Ladakh, who was suffering from high altitude sickness, including vomiting and low oxygen saturation and transported him to Leh. The casualty was recovered expeditiously within the limited time of 1 hour at Air Force Station, Leh.
Taking to Twitter, the PRO (Defence) of Srinagar said, "Indian Air Force - 114 Helicopter Unit, evacuated an Israeli national, suffering from high altitude sickness, from Gongmaru La Pass, at an altitude of 16800 ft in Ladakh." The Helicopter unit received a call for casevac from Nimaling camp, near Markha valley, after which leading from the front, flight commander of the unit, Wing Commander Ashish Kapoor and Flight Lieutenant Sameer Mehra as No. 1 and Squadron Leader Neha Singh and Squadron leader Ajinkya Kher as No. 2, got airborne within minutes, for this time critical mission, read the official statement of the IAF.
Following the shortest route, the Casevac aircrafts reached the spot within 20 minutes of flying time and spotted the casualty on the Gongmaru La Pass, at an elevation of 16800 ft. The No. 1 aircrew carried out a thorough recce, landed at the pass with the assistance of No. 2 and picked up the casualty from the pass in turbulent weather conditions. According to the statement, the casualty was recovered expeditiously within the limited time of 1 hour at Air Force Station, Leh.
A similar incident took place on Aug 20, when the Indian Air Force rescued another Israeli national in Ladakh, who was suffering from mountain sickness with difficulty in breathing, due to the high altitude and transported him to Leh. On Friday (Aug 26), the IAF deployed its Cheetal helicopter to rescue an Italian mountaineer stranded on a mountain top in the Kargil Sector.