Drone Assists In Rescue Of Appalachian Trail Hiker In VA | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.19.25

Airborne-NextGen-05.20.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.21.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.22.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.23.25

Tue, Nov 21, 2017

Drone Assists In Rescue Of Appalachian Trail Hiker In VA

Giles County EMS Used FLIR-Equipped Drone To Locate The Hiker

A hiker reported overdue on the Appalachian Trail in Giles County, VA was located by Giles County Emergency Medical Services using a FLIR-equipped drone last Monday.

Television station WSLS reports that the hiker's daughter contacted the rescue service, and once the aircraft was airborne, the hiker was located within five minutes, according to Giles County Rescue Captain Bill Davis.

The general location of the hiker was determined using GPS signals from his cell phone, but that was not accurate enough to pinpoint where he was. Darkness and heavy fog complicated the search.

The drone belongs to a local company which uses it for building inspections. But the company recently offered its use to EMS if needed. In this case, it was.

Davis said that to his knowledge, there is only one other drone in the state with the FLIR technology. "We mixed old school and new school, and we saved a man's life because of it," Davis said.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Lee Aviation LLC JA30 SuperStol

A Puff Of Smoke Came Out From The Top Of The Engine Cowling Followed By A Total Loss Of Engine Power On May 9, 2025, about 1020 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur-buil>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Curtiss Jenny Build Wows AirVenture Crowds

From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Jenny, I’ve Got Your Number... Among the magnificent antique aircraft on display at EAA’s AirVenture 2022 was a 1918 Curtiss Jenny painstak>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.30.25): Very High Frequency (VHF)

Very High Frequency (VHF) The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/grou>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.30.25)

“From approximately November 2021 through January 2022, Britton-Harr, acting on behalf of AeroVanti, entered into lease-purchase agreements for five Piaggio-manufactured airc>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Quest Kodiak Enhances Migration Monitoring Programs

From 2008 (YouTube Edition): US Fish and Wildlife Service Chooses The Kodiak To Monitor Waterfowl Populations Waterfowl all over North America may soon have to get used to a new ab>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC