US Air Force airlifts Carnival cruise ship passenger, critically ill son in Atlantic Ocean in dramatic 8-hour rescue mission

Members of the US Air Force rescued a mother and her sick child onboard a Carnival cruise ship hundreds of miles out in the open Atlantic Ocean last Saturday.

The dramatic rescue unfolded onboard the Carnival Venezia, which was secluded about 400 miles off the US mainland, according to a news release from the 920th Rescue Wing.

Two teams of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen from Patrick Space Force Base in Florida sprung into action and were in the air “within hours of the call” for help.

Flying onboard two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and two HC-130J Combat King 11 took the service members 8 hours to pull off the rescue.

It required three helicopter air-to-air refuelings to “extended mission duration” given the “dynamic situations” since the ship was so far out at sea.

Upon arrival at the ship’s location, rescuers on one of the HH-60s needed to send down a hoist to retrieve the mother and her child from the ship.

Photos of the daring rescue show the unidentified woman and her son being hoisted up into the helicopter from the ship’s deck.

The child and his mother were safely taken into the helicopter, and he received medical attention while en route back to the mainland.

The cause of the medical emergency was not immediately clear, but officials said the “patient was successfully transferred to a hospital in the United States.” 

“Everyone in the wing mobilized with exceptional speed,” said Capt. Dylan Gann, a pilot with the 301st Rescue Squadron. 

“By uniting our efforts, we saved crucial time, delivering life-saving assistance six hours ahead of other response teams. Our collective determination and efficiency ensured the successful rescue and transport of the individual in need.”

The helicopters traveled 1,200 miles in the air to pull off the heroic rescue.

The Venezia was returning to New York City after various stops in the Bahamas and the Caribbean. 

After the medical airlift, the ship continued its voyage to New York and ported on Monday.

The fearless rescue comes less than two months after the US Coast Guard airlifted a woman suffering medical complications on board a Disney cruise ship located about 180 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Footage posted by the US Coast Guard shows a rescuer being lowered onto the Disney Fantasy and then being raised by an MH-60T Jayhawk chopper to be flown to a hospital on April 15.