Spanish Army Chinook airlifts damaged Guardia Civil helicopter off mountain ledge

A Spanish Army CH-47 Chinook has airlifted a Guardia Civil EC-135 off a mountain peak in central Spain, where the helicopter had been stranded after its main rotor struck a mountain face.

The EC-135 belongs to the Guardia Civil's mountain rescue unit. It clipped the tips of its main rotor against the mountainside during a rescue mission in the Gredos mountain range, and the crew landed it on a narrow ledge beside a small refuge used by mountaineers.

With the terrain and the remote location ruling out any other approach, Guardia Civil and Spanish Army personnel worked together to secure the EC-135 with slings. A Chinook from the 5th Battalion of Transport Helicopters, based in the Madrid region, lifted it away.

The Spanish Army posted video of the operation on its social media channels. No one was injured, and no details have been released about the condition of the EC-135 or how much damage it sustained.

Lifting one helicopter with another is unusual, though not a first for the Spanish Army. An almost identical incident, also recorded on video, occurred at the same spot in April 2013, when another Guardia Civil helicopter clipped its main rotor during a rescue mission and made an emergency landing next to the refuge before being recovered in the same manner by a CH-47.