Post by Ruben Neugebauer

Today marks a very special anniversary for me: Exactly 10 years ago, Fabio Zgraggen and me took of from Switzerland with the very first HPI - Humanitarian Pilots Initiative aircraft, operated together with Sea-Watch, in order to support the sea rescue efforts of the civil SAR fleet on the Med.We departed with a lot of motivation and rage against Europes border policy, as well as with a pink air mattress in each wing of our basic ultralight aircraft, that would keep us afloat in case of an engine failure above water. Both of us straight out of flight school. Far more than a thousand lives would certainly have been lost without the airborne operations that would follow this trial operation and the rescue of many more has been supported by our aircraft. The operation in the meanwhile has become professional and we are running a fleet of twin engined aircraft, so we don’t need the pink air mattresses anymore.Unfortunately our operation is still needed - even more than ever, as European border policies deteriorated even more during this decade. I am honestly proud of all the amazing aircrews that are running our operations today. #SAR still means #SolidarityAndResistance and we will keep flying as long as Europe deliberately lets people drown in the med. The fight continues! Today at world refugee day and on any other day as well ❤️✊