Exercise CrossLanding 2018 Ended Successfully

The air search and rescue (SAR) co-operation of the two countries looks back on a past of many years: in 2007 Rozsály, in 2008 Nyírcsaholy, in 2012 the Szeged airport, in 2013 Szentes hosted the exercise, which was followed with a special interest by the civilian population. During the CrossLanding 2018 exercise, the parties practiced the military elements of the SAR co-operation. They were tasked to test the reliability of the functioning of the alert and information system used in the air search and rescue operations: where the Operations Control Rotation of the HDF Air Command and Control Centre Air Operation Centre (HDF ACCC AOC) co-ordinated the activity of the Hungarian Air SAR Standby Service with the designated units of the Romanian Armed Forces.

On the first day the helicopter of the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base imitated an air disaster with a real flight, and then the plane landed on the designated area of the Hajdúhadház shooting range. Following the request for assistance, the officer co-ordinating the air search and rescue from the HDF ACCC AOC, alerted the designated Hungarian Air SAR Standby Service, and, – in view of the proximity of the affected area to the border –, they contacted the Air Operations Centre of the Romanian Party, to request their assistance. Unfortunately, the poor weather prevailing in Romania prevented the co-operation in this case, owing to which the Romanian helicopters could not participate in the exercise on the first day. The Hungarian party even independently remedied the damage on the scene of the disaster, and solved the tasks with excellent results.

On the next day the Romanian party imitated an air crash on the Chisoda training ground, in which a C-130 airplane while executing a paradropping task, disappeared from the radar screen, and the radio-communication was also cut off with him. In view of the border location of the disaster and the large number of the wounded – the Romanian Air Operations Centre asked for assistance from their Hungarian colleagues. Following the real alerts, the aircrafts had to be found in the course of live air sorties, after a simulated fall. When the notified Romanian-Hungarian units arrived, they searched and rescued, provided care, and then hospitalised the injured persons.

The co-operation proved to be fruitful. The legal background of the joint training was constituted by the Convention on the Co-operation of the Air Forces concluded in Arad between the Hungarian Ministry of Defence and the Romanian Defence Ministry in 2002, and the related SAR Supplementary Conventions signed in 2004. In our Motherland the search-and-rescue tasks are performed and supported by the designated units of the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base and the HDF Pápa Air Base from the Szolnok and Pápa home bases, by the direct co-ordination of the HDF Air Command and Control Centre, under the professional supervision of the HDF Joint Force Command. The service has recently proved its significance, when supporting the medevac’s activity; they used the rope access technique to help a paraglider, who got in distress on the hillside between Csákberény and Csókakő.