Pilot Reveals Details of Drama on Dinara
The rescue operation for a German national lasted about fifteen minutes, and due to the inaccessible terrain, the helicopter could not land, so rescuers were lowered by winch.
The rescue operation for a German national lasted about fifteen minutes, and due to the inaccessible terrain, the helicopter could not land, so rescuers were lowered by winch.
The Croatian Air Force (HRZ) conducted a challenging rescue operation on Saturday on Mount Dinara, where a German national sustained an ankle injury and could not descend on his own. The pilot of the 395th Transport Helicopter Squadron described the circumstances of the intervention, which, although brief, required precise coordination among several services.
"The duty crew of the 395th Transport Helicopter Squadron received a call regarding a search and rescue of an injured person on Dinara. The person was accompanied by two others near the mountain lodge on Dinara, close to Knin," the pilot told Dnevno.hr.
The helicopter took off from the Divulje base at 7:40 PM. On board were already two members of the Special Forces Command (ZSS), and at the football field of NK Dinara in Knin, two members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) also boarded. The flight to the destination took less than an hour, while the extraction operation on the ground was completed in about fifteen minutes.
"He injured his ankle," the military pilot briefly explained why the tourist could not continue his ascent. After being lifted into the helicopter, the injured person was transported to the hospital in Knin.
The pilot emphasized that the mountainous terrain of Dinara poses a special challenge for rescue teams. "Such search and rescue missions are among the most demanding that the HRZ conducts due to the difficult terrain that is inaccessible to ground forces, and the fact that the helicopter cannot land. Therefore, a winch is used for extraction, so HGSS and HZZ members are lowered to the injured person and lift them into the helicopter," he explained.
He added that the helicopter must remain completely stable throughout the entire operation, without any swaying, which requires constant training of the crews. Saturday's operation involved members of the 395th Transport Helicopter Squadron of the HRZ, the Special Forces Command, and the HGSS, and the pilot emphasizes that good coordination among all involved services is key to the success of such interventions.
