A Spanish Army Chinook rescues a Civil Guard H135 in Gredos... again

In Spain, the Civil Guard is highly experienced in carrying out mountain rescue missions, which are often very risky.

A Spanish Civil Guard EC-135 helicopter in an amazing flight skimming the water in Vigo
The helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft of the Spanish Civil Guard Air Service

This week, the Civil Guard's Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM) and Air Service (SAER) responded to a rescue mission at the Victory Refuge in Guisando, Ávila, located in the Sierra de Gredos. This refuge features a small ledge alongside it that serves as a helipad for rescue missions. Unfortunately, the H135 HU.26-04A helicopter (call sign Cuco 320, construction number 2256) sustained damage during the landing, according to Iván Castro Palacios. On September 18, RadarSpain published an image of the damaged helicopter, showing a broken rotor blade.

The Spanish Army has released this video today showing the recovery of "Cuco 320" by a heavy-lift CH-47F helicopter from the 5th Transport Helicopter Battalion (BHELTRA V), based in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid. The Civil Guard helicopter had to be lifted out using slings—a complex operation given the crash site's location.

This is not the first time an SAER H135 has crashed at this location. On April 25, 2013, an EC-135P2+—tail number HU.26-18 (call sign "Cuco 312," construction number 1007)—crashed at the same site and was recovered by a BHELTRA V CH-47D, as seen in this video published on the Agrupación Ahumada YouTube channel: