u/GemeenteEnschede

22nd of January 1982

Jessica, a three year old living in Sardinia Italy, has been diagnosed by her doctor to die in a span of 24 hours, her only hope is an new experimental antiviral drug only available in Germany. The problem is that a heavy snow storm hit Germany, no cars are on the streets, no trains are rolling and all planes are grounded due frozen runways.

The doctor made a desperate call to a multinational base and asked if the Luftwaffe could deliver it, it was an Friday evening and there only was one German on duty officer, he reported it to his superiors in Germany and it set off the rescue mission. Firstly the Bundeswehr Central Pharmacy was contacted to find a place that had the antiviral, simultaneously they had to find a runway that was suitable for take-off despite freezing rain. The only runway they realistically could free of snow and ice in time was the one of the Jagdbombergeschwader 34 in Memmingen and the cleaning of the runway started. During that the Central Pharmacy found the only way they could get the antiviral was from the manufacturers themselves in Munich, the police escorted an authorized signatory from an opera he was attending to the company and from there the police drove a convoy to deliver the antiviral from Munich to Memmingen (130km/80 miles).

By the time the police arrived only the middle of the runway was freed of ice and a volunteer pilot was found, Oberleutnant Juergen Gundling. Gundling was already in his F-104 ready for takeoff, an aircraft that had high crashing rates in the German Air Force even in good weather conditions so one slip during take off would surely mean his death, when the antiviral was given to him at 1:50 am he took off. The destination was the airport Decimomannu, the airport had been hit by torrential rain the past few days and had no power and lights on the runway so military and civilian cars were driven onto the runway so they could light it up as much as possible with their headlights for the soon arriving pilot.

Gundling approached the runway with 380kmh / 240 mph at 3am while it was dark and there beeing stormy weather. He landed successfully and the antiviral was driven to the hospital in Caglairi where the child was laying and was given to the doctor that made the call hours ago.

The girl survived with the help of hundreds of strangers that managed the impossible.