Citation Medi Flight Down (merged)

[SLFguy]

Cessna down in Sardinia on Transplant Flight

[airmail]

From the BBC News Website:

Transplant plane crashes in Italy

A light aircraft carrying a heart for transplant has crashed in mountains on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Two heart surgeons, a nurse and three crew members were killed in the crash, Italian radio reported.

The plane was on its way back from the capital Rome where it had picked up the heart for a life-saving operation to be performed on the island.

It was bound for the main Sardinian city of Cagliari when radar contact was lost by air traffic controllers.

The aircraft came down on Mount Cresia, an area which is said to be notorious among pilots for its strong air currents.

Italy's National Flight Safety Agency has opened an investigation into the incident.

The plane, a Cessna 500, belonged to Aermed, a rental company which specialises in emergency medical flights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3516671.stm

[No comment]

Condolences to all, especially considering the nature of the flight.

[FLAMBEBOBO]

Yes, I can only echo the above post.........a very,very sad loss.

[2604]

Condolences to everyone concerned.

But some people are looking for something to happen.
Has anyone heard about this one: last week a Seneca was about to run out of fuel above the Channel 15 miles off the French coast. Manage to reach Deauville on 1 engine, refuelled and continue to its destination (Toussus Le Noble) with its 5 pax. The pilot apparently ASSUMED that operations refulled the A/C. Not sure whether all the facts are correct but still...

[squire]

A small plane carrying a medical team and a heart for a transplant patient crashed Tuesday in Sardinia, killing all six people aboard, officials said.
.
The Cessna Citation 500 had taken off from Rome's Ciampino airport and was bound for the Sardinian city of Cagliari when it lost radar contact with air traffic controllers over a mountain range about 20 miles from Cagliari, said Capt. Francesco Di Simone, a spokesman for Italy's air force.
.
On board were two pilots and a four-member medical team that had picked up the heart at a Rome hospital and was returning back to Sardinia for a transplant, Di Simone said by telephone.
.
Italian news reports said the two pilots were Austrian.
.
About four hours after radar contact was lost, an air force rescue helicopter spotted the wreckage of the Cessna, and a member of the rescue team confirmed that all six people on board had died, he said.

edited to remove second two copies of the same text

[Global Pilot]

Anyone know who the operator is?

[Global Pilot]

Disregard my earlier request for info on operator. Just noticed info on other thread.