A private helicopter that took off from Venice was lost in an inaccessible area nearby Lake Montedoglioin the province of Arezzo, very close to the border with Marche. There were two people on board the plane, Augusta Westland 109. The Arezzo-bound helicopter disappeared from radar in the afternoon in the skies above Badia Tedalda, on the border between Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Marche. The aircraft may experience a failure while flying over an inaccessible area.
Sansepolcro (Arezzo) firefighters from Pesaro Urbino and the Drago helicopter from the national agency intervened on the scene and tried to fly over the area but weather conditions did not allow it. Ambulances from Badia Tedalda, Alpine Rescue, the Red Cross, carabinieri and Air Force helicopters were also in action.
The alarm was raised around 5 p.m., when 118 ASL Southeast Tuscany received a request for help via the international satellite system Cospas-Sarsat, which is designed to coordinate search and rescue operations. The health company has activated a maxi emergency group, with a Disaster Manager and a nurse in the operating room coordinating rescue efforts together with neighboring provincial structures.
The search for the plane also continued late into the night with units of Arezzo and Pesaro firefighters, Alpine Rescue, Carabinieri and the Air Force flying over the area in their own vehicles. However, bad weather conditions made search operations difficult as visibility was very poor and the area was considered by rescue teams to be highly inaccessible. The prevailing hypothesis is that the failure caused the plane to crash.
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