Unfortunately one of the passengers was taken ill so the captain decided to implement a medivac recovery performed by the French Navy/Marines.
We were south of Brest at the time.
Although told this was to be an exercise , the whole ship was put in lock down for safety reasons for 90 minutes. No one allowed on deck or balconies and an embargo put on Photo's.
As it happened the rescue helo passed right by our balcony window , as shown in the image below.
In addition , running PP and dump 1090 it / registered Mode A only.In fact two a/c registered.
The approach of the helos , even though initially on the opposite side of the ship , showed on PP as a massive increase in signal level as they closed in.Meanwhile the ship made a diversion towards the French coast to make the RV [as shown on the cabin ship tracker]
Couldn't make out any ID on the airframe[s].
The patient was strapped to a stretcher and winched up .
Hopefully they reached hospital to make a full recovery
This was a dangerous exercise for the French , carried out with impressive precision!
Earlier while visiting Toulon the Charles de Gaulle was spotted . Its sitting there having a refit....nothing on deck.