A crew of Italian rescuers all survived a helicopter crash on a mountain peak over the weekend before going on to complete its mission to save a mountaineer who fell into a crevasse, officials said.
The helicopter crew was responding Saturday to a distress call on Monte Rosa, the second-highest mountain in Western Europe, when it crashed on the mountain’s upper glacier, said Italy’s national mountain rescue service, Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico.
Paolo Pettinaroli, a passenger in the helicopter, told Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera that they were flying at an altitude of about 14,760 feet (4500 meters) when they suddenly heard a "thud."
"It happened in a moment," Pettinaroli said. We didn’t understand. I don’t know what happened. We had arrived. But the helicopter was destroyed."
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The agency shared a photo of the wrecked helicopter on its side under the Capanna Margherita, a mountain hut built on the summit of Punta Gnifetti. Due to the altitude, it is the highest building in Europe.
The crew, however, survived without suffering serious injury and walked out from the wreckage to move forward with its mission, a move that the rescue agency says characterizes the "tenacious spirit" of its team members.
"The team on board, however, completed the rescue mission for which they had been activated, recovering a climber who had fallen into a crack," the rescue service said. "An extraordinary example of those who, even before their own strength, put their hearts into what we do every day."
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Another helicopter from Zermatt, Switzerland, arrived to pick up the rescuers and the climber and fly them down to the valley, the newspaper reported.
The crew was evaluated medically at a hospital. No further information about the incident or the mountaineer they rescued was immediately available.
Monte Rosa is located on the border between Italy and Switzerland.
