[Electronic Translation from Norwegian]  A Portuguese AW101 helicopter has set a new record. It saved a man at a distance of 360 nautical mil, which is 670 km.

In February this year capsized the Portuguese sailor Javier Sanso when he participated in the Vendee Globe solo race. This happened about the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and at night. A Portuguese rescue helicopter was sent to search for the sailor. It had to fly 360 nautical mil before it arrived and when it did Sanso in the sea, it was last minute. He had fired his latest distress rockets and waved a hand held torch, which was his last chance to be discovered by the rescue helicopter. The helicopter was also close by had to turn around due to a falling stock of fuel.

However, he was rescued. When he was hoisted out of the water, he had early symptoms of hyperthermia, but no critical injuries.He was then flown to a hospital in the Azores.

This is the longest cruise to the Portuguese rescue squadron had ever flown to rescue someone in the water. It once had earlier flown 380 nautical mil, but then to save someone on board a vessel. The commander of the rescue squadron praised for this mission AW101 helicopter, which portugisernne adopted a few years ago. He said that this rescue operation had only been possible with such a helicopter, with their long range and its search capability in the dark.

Then started on his mission, had helicopter with 5000 kg of fuel and all unnecessary equipment was removed to reduce aircraft weight. And it turned out to hold. With this lifeline, the Portuguese squadron saved 1039 lives since it began using AW101.