JEDDAH: Aviation Security helicopters hovered over the sky of Makkah and holy sites, monitoring the movement of pilgrims from Makkah to Mina and marking the beginning of their Haj mission.

The security helicopter fleet continued their mission over Makkah on Friday and monitored the movement of pilgrims on the ground from Makkah to Mina.

The main mission of the helicopter team is to provide the operation center with a live picture of crowd and vehicle movement and to direct Civil Defense ground teams to tackle emergency cases and determine the best paths to reach accident locations. They are also trained to evacuate people and carry injured victims in emergency cases.

Col. Jamaan Al-Ghamdi, commander of Aviation Security, said his team started its work before Haj and conducted an aerial survey of the holy sites to determine the locations suitable for landing when tackling emergency cases.

He said that there are 19 helicopters equipped with up-to-date equipment and fitted with night vision.

Al-Ghamdi said that they would be responsible for carrying out rescue mission in areas where ground teams cannot reach either because of overcrowding or geographic factors.

He said the S-92 helicopters are designed to work in tough conditions. Al-Ghamdi said Aviation Security would carry out their mission when pilgrims start moving to Arafat and they will provide their ground teams with information from the skies.