Drone finds 75-year-old man who got stuck in marshes

A 75-year-old man who got lost while out walking with friends was found by a drone 20 hours after he was reported missing. Peter Pugh had been walking with friends and family on Brancaster Beach at approximately 5pm on June 16 when he became separated from the group. Footage from the drone shows how Mr Pugh was found at approximately 2:30pm the following day after becoming stuck in the marshes.

Do you have a story of drones coming to the rescue or assisting your agency? Please share in the comments.

Rescue drones begin operations in Baltic Sea

 

For the first time, drones equipped with Restube-buoys will be used on the Baltic Sea coast in Germany to give help to swimmers in distress

For the first time, drones equipped with Restube-buoys will be used on the Baltic Sea coast in Germany to give help to swimmers in distress. Start-Up company RESTUBE GMBH equipped the lifeguards of the German Red Cross division with its safety device for drones for all 14 beaches at the Baltic Sea.

Water Rescue in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania started officially at the beginning of the 2018 swimming season. Restubes do not replace lifeguards but the time until the person in water receives flotation assistance can be reduced radically with its deployment. Once the Restube-buoy is dropped, it inflates automatically with water contact so that the rescued person can hold on until a lifeguard arrives.

The lifeguards of the German Red Cross Division operate 18 Restube equipped drones at 14 beach sections at the Baltic Sea as well as on four inland lakes.

Training - Part 107 Drone Pilot Test Prep Course

Pass the Part 107 FAA Drone Pilot Exam The First Time!

Course Description:

EMMU Aerial is offering the popular Part 107 Drone Pilot Test Prep Course

To fly your drone under the FAA's Small UAS Rule (Part 107) for commercial purposes, you must obtain a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA.  This certificate demonstrates that you understand the regulations, operating requirements, and procedures for safely flying drones. 

In order to get the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, you need to pass the FAA drone pilot test called the Airman Knowledge Test. The two-hour, 60 question test requires extensive studying and our course teaches you everything you need to know.  Knowledge test topic areas include:

• Applicable regulations relating to small unmanned aircraft system rating privileges, limitations, and flight operation
• Airspace classification and operating requirements, and flight restrictions affecting small unmanned aircraft operation
• Aviation weather sources and effects of weather on small unmanned aircraft performance
• Small unmanned aircraft loading and performance
• Emergency procedures
• Crew resource management
• Radio communication procedures
• Determining the performance of small unmanned aircraft
• Physiological effects of drugs and alcohol
• Aeronautical decision-making and judgment
• Airport operations
• Maintenance and preflight inspection procedures

Taking and completing the in-person class is the right decision. Having an EMMU Aerial instructor to answer your questions as you learn through the material will be a key to success when you take your exam.

• 16 Hours of In-Person Training
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• Part 107 Student Guide
• Practice Test Questions
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*For any students who take our Part 107 Test Prep course and achieve a 90% or better on at least 3 practice exams, we will pay for you to take the exam again if you do not pass.

Course Prerequisites - None

Date;                    August 25, 2018

Length;                16 hours

Cost:                      $400.00   

             

Location;             Melbourne, Florida

Contact EMMU Aerial for more information and to enroll

Drone Used to Help Rescue 4 Stranded in Brazos

WHITNEY, Texas (KWTX) Four people stranded in the middle of the Brazos River below the Lake Whitney dam were rescued Thursday.

A drone, flown by Hill County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hemrick, delivered a lifejacket to a mother and her 15-year-old daughter to keep them afloat before a rescue boat arrived.

Authorities say they didn’t know how to swim and got stranded as the water levels were rising.

“The stranded individuals had no swimming skills nor devices to keep them afloat with the water rising,” said Chief Deputy Rick White.

“That lifejacket served as a real lifesaving device until water vehicles could arrive to extract them from the river.”

As rescuers were getting the mother and daughter into the air boat provided by the West Shore Department, two men in kayaks were found stranded several hundred yards farther down the river.

“There’s warning signs, please take heed of the warning, especially in that lower part of the dam,” said White.

“Do not try to cross the river form one county side to the other, don’t get out in the middle and float in inner tubes or stand out there, because when those alarms sound generally there is not enough time to return to shore.”

The events forced the Army Corps of Engineers to shut down the dam’s water release.

Hillsboro Fire, DPS, West Shore VFD, Whitney Police Fire and Rescue, the Lake Whitney Corps of Engineers, Lake Whitney Park Rangers, HCSO and Hill County Emergency Management responded.

“We’re lucky we got everybody out,” said White.

Colorado search and rescue teams are using drones to find lost adventurers

To more efficiently manage already limited resources, volunteer search and rescue teams across the state are now using drones as their eyes in the sky.

Police use of drones expands rapidly in North Carolina

 

A small unmanned aircraft system, or drone, being operated by the Fayetteville Police Department. Courtesy of the city of Fayetteville

On a cold Christmas Eve night, the man found himself stuck up to his waist in the mud of a swampy area surrounded by deep and frigid creeks in Cumberland County, when a small flying object passed over his head.

The object was a Fayetteville Police drone. It may have saved his life.

The man “had outstanding warrants and ran from a traffic stop … to elude officers,” Fayetteville Police Chief Gina V. Hawkins told Carolina Public Press.

“The subject crossed at least two sections of creek that were over his head. The temperature that night was 40 degrees and the suspect became lodged in the mire. The incident quickly became a rescue mission with the use of the drone to safely guide the officers to the suspect’s location.”

Fayetteville police publicly unveiled their year-old drone program on April 10, touting its early successes, including the Dec. 2017 rescue as one of their small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) program’s successes.

“Due to the frigid temperatures at the time and … that the suspect was stuck in silt, it is highly probable the suspect would have succumbed to hypothermia without the aid of the aviation unit,” a Fayetteville Police Department statement said.

A growing number of law enforcement agencies in North Carolina have initiated drone programs since 2016, when recent changes in both costs and regulations made the unmanned systems practical for local agencies.

The promise of drones, like any tool, comes with concerns about their potential abuse. Observers wonder about erosion of protections against unlawful searches. Courts and lawmakers haven’t yet set precedents or passed legislation to address all of the potential questions raised by the rapidly developing technology.

Law enforcement agencies are keenly aware of these concerns. But as CPP talked with agencies across the state, their answers to drone use varied widely.

While Fayetteville emphasized the potential for drones in rescue situations and said the department will not use them for “vehicle pursuits, to assist in issuing traffic citations (or) for routine patrols,” the December incident was also described as an effort to located a wanted suspect.

This article takes a look at the rapid adoption of drones by the law enforcement and the legal and practical implications.

Read More; Carolina Public Press

New Search and Rescue Drone - Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Texas game wardens are adding a new set of eyes in the sky with a new Search and Rescue Drone or Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Watch this simulated rescue of some lost children.