A Leh casualty evacuation was flown late at night by an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J Super Hercules, which airlifted a critically ill 30-year-old civilian patient from Leh to Palam in New Delhi for further medical care, the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.

The tasking came at short notice.

C-130J flies critically ill civilian from Leh to Palam

According to the ministry, the mission was carried out in darkness and in challenging weather. It called for a high degree of operational preparedness, close coordination and timely execution, the ministry said. The patient was later shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for treatment, according to the Ministry of Defence release. As is usual in medical evacuations involving civilians, the patient was not named and the illness was not described.

Leh casualty evacuation flown in darkness and poor weather

Leh's airfield sits at around 10,700 feet, among the highest in the country with regular flights. Thin air at that height cuts engine power and lift, so aircraft need a longer run to get airborne.

Scheduled civilian flights at Leh operate largely in the morning hours, when winds in the Indus valley are calmer. A night departure in poor weather leaves the crew with far less visibility for the climb out of the valley and the route over the Himalayan ranges towards the plains of north India.

Patient moved from Palam to AIIMS

The aircraft landed at Air Force Station Palam, the IAF base in Delhi that handles transport and VIP movements. From there the patient was transferred to AIIMS.

C-130J has landed at Ladakh's highest airstrip since 2013

The IAF inducted the C-130J Super Hercules in 2011. In August 2013, a C-130J landed at Daulat Beg Oldi in eastern Ladakh, an advanced landing ground at around 16,600 feet, in what was reported at the time as a world record for the aircraft type.

The four-engine turboprop can operate from short and semi-prepared strips. That makes it a regular choice for special operations and for humanitarian flights in the mountains, details of which the Indian Air Force publishes on its official site.

IAF airlift this year covers floods and medical evacuations

The Leh casualty evacuation adds to a run of humanitarian tasking for the IAF this year. In late August, a C-130J flew 10 tonnes of relief material and medical supplies into Nepal after flash floods there, the opening sortie of the IAF's Nepal flood relief effort, with C-17 and further C-130 flights lined up to follow.

Before that, IAF helicopters rescued or evacuated 458 stranded people over 10 days across flood-hit Assam and Nagaland and delivered over nine tonnes of supplies during the Assam and Nagaland flood relief operation.

Part of the C-130J itself is built in India. The tail assembly for the aircraft is manufactured at the Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited facility in Hyderabad.