Moonbird - Flying over the rescue
A project by Alessio Mamo & Marta Bellingreri

“Moonbird, this is Moonbird, direction South, ready for departure”. The voice of the Moonbird’s pilot announces its take-off from Malta International Airport, heading towards Libyan coasts and the Search and Rescue Operations Area.
Once there, the radio communication is full of voices of all languages from land and sea: “Good morning, Assalam Alaikom, Aqui Iuventa yo te recibo”. The captains of the rescue ships, Italian coastguards and Libyan air space control.
Under the Moonbird aircraft, hundreds of people in wooden and rubber boats are risking their lives to reach a safe place in Europe. The aerial reconnaissance flights over the Central Mediterranean have born to discover and spot these boats in distress at sea, improve the cooperation in rescue and monitor human rights violations. Operated by civil society organizations Sea Watch and the Humanitarian Pilot Initiative, this light aircraft flies over the world’s most deadly sea border to demand only one thing: stop mass deaths at sea and welcome refugees.