MINA: The helicopter squadron of the Civil Defense plays a significant role in the search and rescue operations besides looking out for accidents on expressways in collaboration with the Traffic Police and the Saudi Red Crescent during Haj season.
“The tasks undertaken by the eight-copter strong air wing include firefighting at locations where surface vehicles have limited access, rescuing victims and stranded or trapped people during accidents or natural calamities. The helicopters also make surveillance flights above the roads during the Haj season,” Col. Abdullah Al-Maghrebi, commander of the air operations said in a statement to Arab News yesterday.
Its assignments during the Haj season are to keep a close watch on the movement of pilgrims in the holy sites, helping in fighting fire and rescue operations in the holy sites in addition to helping police and other government organs whenever the situations demand.
“It monitors the traffic on the Makkah-Taif road, Makkah-Jeddah Highway and Makkah-Madinah expressway for accidents or major traffic snags,” the commanding flight officer said.
“The eight helicopters we have are well-suited for search and rescue operations because each one of them has 26 seats and can stand still in the air while lifting victims on board. The copters are also equipped to provide first aid to accident victims while flying to the nearest hospital,” said Col. Al-Maghrebi.
Each helicopter can airlift three tons of aid material to calamity-hit regions that are inaccessible to other vehicles, Al-Maghrebi added.
“They are also effective in searching for missing people, as they provide excellent visibility to the terrain below and at low and high altitudes,” he said.
The officer also underscored the key role Civil Defense copters play in extinguishing massive fires occurring in tent cities such as Mina besides fighting fire on high-rise buildings, warehouses, farmlands and forests.
Another task carried out by the copters is supporting ground forces by supplying aerial photographs of calamities so that ground forces can devise their strategies in rescue operations.
“The helicopter squadron of our Civil Defense manned by well-trained staff is as good as any other search and rescue operation team in the world,” he affirmed.
