BLMW rescue action in the Baltic Sea

On 11 October, during night hours, the SAR duty unit, belonging to the elite contingent of the Naval Air Brigade (BLMW), carried out the 32nd rescue operation this year, involving a Mi-14 PŁ/R helicopter.

The rescue mission, coded for urgent intervention, concerned a crew member of the yacht Danube, which fell into an accident in the sea, distanced 11 nautical miles to the north course from the port of Ustka.

The SAR crew, operating from the 44th Naval Air Base in Darłów, in response to the distress signal, reached an operating ceiling at 01:18 p.m., initiating a task related to the evacuation of the injured crew member. His health was estimated and transported to a hospital in Koszalin, carrying out an operational landing at Darłów's home airport at 03:35.

The coordination of rescue operations, which are subject to the Centre for Marine Operations – the Command of the Marine Component, took over the Emergency Operations Division. Its responsibilities included monitoring communication and directing operations throughout the rescue operation, which included continuous monitoring of the situation and optimal allocation of resources and data transmission.

This rescue operation is recorded as the 777th search and rescue operation in the BLMW chronicles and 32nd performed in the current calendar year. The BLMW airmen, being an essential element of the rescue forces of the Republic, provided support to a total of 414 people. As the only aviation formation in the country, the BLMW maintains continuous combat readiness to carry out rescue operations over water, using W-3WARM helicopters from the 43rd Marine Aviation Base in Gdynia-Baby Dołach and Mi-14PŁ/R units or W-3WARM from the 44th Naval Aviation Base in Darłów.

Logistics and tactical support for rescue operations is provided by the crew of the M28B 1R Bryza patrol aircraft, maintaining a 24-hour operating condition at the airport in Siemirovice near Lęborek, which increases the operational capability and reactivity of the marine rescue system.

Written by Mariusz Dasiewicz/COM-DKM