A Spanish Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter recovered an EC-135 helicopter which had become stranded on a mountain peak after sustaining damage during a rescue mission.
The EC-135, operated by the mountain rescue unit of the Guardia Civil (Spain’s gendarmerie corps), had the tips of its main rotor clipped a mountain face when performing a rescue mission in the Gredos mountain range, in central Spain.
Fortunately, the crew managed to land the helicopter on a narrow ledge on the mountainside, next to a small refuge used by mountaineers.
Due to the orography and remote location of the landing spot, the only option to extract the damaged rotorcraft was by air.
In a joint operation involving Guardia Civil and Spanish Army personnel, the EC-135 was secured with slings and then lifted out by a CH-47 Chinook belonging to the 5th Battalion of Transport Helicopters, based in the Madrid region.
The Spanish Army has shared a video on its social media channels showing the key moments of the operation.
No details have been made public about the condition of the EC-135 and the extent of the damage. No one was injured during the whole incident.
While it is unusual to see a helicopter carrying another helicopter, this was not a first for the Spanish Army. Remarkably, an almost identical incident, which was also captured on video, took place at the very same spot in April 2013. On that occasion, another Guardia Civil helicopter was also forced to make an emergency landing next to the refuge after clipping its main rotor during a rescue mission. The damaged aircraft was recovered in the same way, lifted off the mountain by a CH-47.