US evangelical aid organisation Samaritan’s Purse sent a field hospital and medical personnel to Verona on 17 March with a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-72 built in 1969.
The four-engine aircraft that was used by the organisation is a real veteran. It was built in 1969 as a freighter and joined Finnair in January that year. The plane served with Finnair until 1981.
It was then used by the French Air Force until 1984. The DC-8 later flew for Air Transport International – and finally ended up with the US aid organisation Samaritan’s Purse in 2015.
There she still flies to all corners of the world and provides disaster relief. It is also one of the 10 flying DC-8s worldwide.
Its most recent operation was to transport a special ventilation machine from North Carolina for coronavirus patients in northern Italy.
On board, there were 32 disaster relief workers, including doctors and nursing staff, as well as a US field hospital including a specially developed ventilation station.
The mobile hospital has 68 beds, eight of which are intensive care beds. According to information from the Italian Air Force, it will be built in the city of Cremona in the next few days and will be in operation for three months.
The medical staff that Samaritan’s Purse sent across the Atlantic are said to remain in the country for at least one month.
Samaritan’s DC-8-72F has meanwhile returned to the US, but is expected to arrive in Verona soon to bring additional medical equipment.
Story courtesy of Airlinerwatch.com
