MADRID, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The three-man crew of a Spain air-force helicopter reported missing on Thursday has been rescued, the Spanish Ministry of Defense confirmed Friday.
The Superpuma helicopter, which formed part of the 802 Squadron, was participating in a joint security operation with Senegal where the crew had spent the past fortnight.
It was reported missing around 450 km off Gran Canary Island in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon, provoking a search and rescue operation.
Spain rapidly mobilized an F-18 fighter and a Delta 4 to begin the search, while Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes telephoned his Moroccan counterpart to ask for help in the operation.
Close to midnight, the Spanish Ministry of Defense confirmed that the crew had been picked up by a Moroccan helicopter, which had seen the craft still afloat on the ocean with the crew safe aboard a life-raft.
It was also confirmed that one of the survivors had previously been rescued following another accident while on search and rescue duty in the Canary Islands in March 2014.
