Casa's military plane had a malfunction. Around Puck Bay, he started lowering his flight. Finally, he fell into the water – according to the scenario, the first of the episodes of the “Sarex ’24” exercise, which aims to check the interaction of the army with another institutions while conducting various types of rescue operations.
The Navy went to aid the pilot of the lost machine. – The port in Gdynia has left: OrP rescue vessel ‘Lech’, the hydrographic ship of the ORP “Arctowski”, the tug “Mieszko”, the boat for securing diving work, as well as specialists from the Bank Rescue Group – says kmdr. Wojciech Jando from the Centre for Maritime Operations – the Marine Component Command, the institution supervising the action included in the script of the first part of “Sarexa”. The search of the Puck Bay besides included units of the Marine Border defender Division and the Marine SAR Search and Rescue Service, as well as a chopper from the Naval Aviation Brigade and the Maritime Office aircraft.
The missing device was found. The wreck was at a depth of 20 meters. It shortly became apparent that there was a surviving man inside. He was saved by an airbag. It was formed in the corner of a compartment that the water failed to flood. According to experts, survivors in specified a space can last up to 72 hours. The problem is he can't get himself out of it. He has to number on outside help. – According to the script, divers from the ORP "Lech" reached the victim. On the surface, it went consecutive to the decompression chamber, which is in the equipment of the ship – says Mr. Jando. As a result, the survivor avoided the shock resulting from fast changes in pressure.
A peculiar container played the function of a sunken aircraft for the exercise. The organizers placed in it a phantom imitation of a man. – Saving a surviving individual from the airbag for the first time we practiced 4 years ago. Then the container was sunk in the Gdynia Warport. Now we've gone 1 step further. We carried out the action on the open sea – noted Mr Jando.
At the same time the search was besides conducted on land. Reason? According to witnesses, by the time the plane fell into the Baltic, 3 crew members jumped from its deck with parachutes. However, the location of their landing remained a mystery. Police, fire department and territorial defence troops, among others, took part. – In each brigade we have a ground search and rescue squad – NZR. It consists of a vehicle and 5 soldiers: the commander, his deputy, the driver, the paramedic and the radiotelephony. The NZR has an air radio station by which it can communicate with aircraft that participate in the search. If necessary, the squad leader may besides call for peculiar support sub-groups," explains Colonel Robert Pękala, spokesperson for WOT. Soldiers of the 7th Pomeranian Territorial Defence Brigade were directed to the sea, specifically the Hel Peninsula. Eventually, the search brought the desired result. Casa pilots were able to track down. As it turned out, 1 of them was injured during the landing. A chopper was called to the site, which transported him to a naval infirmary in Gdańsk.
The Baltic edition of the exercise lasted 2 days. The next day, after a search and rescue operation, it was revealed that fuel had been leaked from a sunk aircraft. The units active had to neutralise it so as not to contaminate the environment.
As the service struggled with this task, another exercise episode began on Podlasie. According to the scenario, an emergency tiny civilian aircraft landed in a hard accessible area. The device had to be found, and its crew members had to be helped. WOT was besides active in these tasks. – In total, this year’s “Sarex” exercise consists of 4 episodes. They will be held in various parts of Poland. Their aim is to check the cooperation of troops with non-military services and institutions during various types of crisis situations and to verify the procedures presently in force – says Colonel Marcin Szafranec, Head of the Aviation and Maritime Rescue Branch at the Operations Command of the Armed Forces Types.
‘Sarex ’24 exercises’ arrange the DORSH. They will last until Friday and are conducted for the sixteenth time.
