WASHINGTON – The State Department confirmed that it flew two terminally ill Middle East monarchs to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in separate flights this year. In each case, giant C17 Globemaster III flying hospitals were used. The C17s normally are reserved for soldiers wounded in battle. In one case, on September 18, the prime minister of the oil-rich island kingdom of Bahrain was flown by his own royal aircraft to Germany, where the C17 flying hospital took over for the next nine-hour leg to Mayo. A Boeing 747 owned by Bahrain’s royal family followed. When Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa died at Mayo Wednesday, the 747 took the body home. The same C17 service was also given to Kuwait’s late ruling emir, 91-year-old Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Saba. He was flown to Mayo July 29 after surgery failed at home. He died two months later. In both cases Mayo declined even to confirm that the royal patients were being treated. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, has now confirmed the C17 flights, explaining that both Bahrain and Kuwait were key military allies of the United States.
Earlier: Kuwait emir at Mayo after setback
Globemaster modified. The Air Force took delivery of first C-17 Globemaster III flying hospitals in 1993. The basic plane costs $215 million.
Aerial triage. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III carries doctors, nurses and lighter medical specialists to stabilize, monitor and treat soldiers with high-level care so they make it safely home.