The patient was in very poor condition and needed an ECMO machine to support his heart and lungs, which the hospital in Bodø (central Norway) did not have. Doctors decided to call a nearby airbase for help.

An F-16 - Photo: Getty Images

Luckily, two F-16s were preparing to take off for an exercise at the time. Even better, one of them had an external cargo bay, allowing it to carry equipment if needed.

The base immediately requested that the plane stay put and called to check where the equipment the patient needed was available.

A hospital in Trondheim, some 450km from Bodø, was told it had the machine. A plane was immediately dispatched, delivering it to Bodø in less than half an hour, whereas transporting the device by car would have taken 10 hours – not enough time to save the patient’s life.

“Normally it takes us about 35 minutes to fly,” said Lieutenant Colonel Børge ‘Gaff’ Kleppe, commander of 338 Squadron. “But because this was special cargo, the pilots accelerated a bit, so it took less than 25 minutes.”

Thanks to this timely support, the patient was saved.

According to The Independent on April 22, this was the first time an F-16 aircraft was used to rescue civilians, and doctors praised the help.

"We are very grateful for the help of the armed forces. Having an ECMO machine was very important for the patient," said Kristian Barnes, director of the heart and lung clinic at Tromsø University Hospital, where the patient was later transferred.

For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Kleppe simply said: "It's nice to be able to help society in this way."

According to TTO