Indian Air Force evacuates Israeli national in Ladakh
Aug 31, 2022
Leh (Ladakh) [India], August 31 : The Indian Air Force on Wednesday evacuated from Ladakh an Israeli national suffering from high altitude sickness, including vomiting and low oxygen saturation, and transported him to Leh, officials said.
Taking to Twitter, the PRO (Defence) of Srinagar said, "Indian Air Force - 114 Helicopter Unit, evacuated Israeli national, suffering from high altitude sickness, from #GongmaruLa 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, according to the statement released by Air Force.
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 feet.
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 August 20, when the IAF 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.
Taking to Twitter, the PRO (Defence) of Srinagar said, "Israeli national suffering from acute mountain sickness and having difficulty breathing in high altitude area of Nimaling Camp near Markha valley in Ladakh, rescued by Indian Air Force."
Earlier, the Indian Air Force on Friday deployed its Cheetal helicopter to rescue an Italian mountaineer stranded on a mountain top in the Kargil sector.
