Firefighter's Personal Drone Assists In Rescue Of Stranded Hikers | 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-09.15.25

AirborneNextGen-
09.09.25

Airborne-Unlimited-09.10.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-09.11.25

AirborneUnlimited-09.12.25

Mon, May 28, 2018

Firefighter's Personal Drone Assists In Rescue Of Stranded Hikers

Two People And Their Incapacitated Dog Became Disoriented During A Canyon Hike

When two hikers and their dog became lost in Otero Canyon in the Tonto National Forest just east of Phoenix, NM, their rescue was helped by a local firefighter flying his personal drone. But it was not part of the search effort.

Television station KOAT reports that one of the hikers called 911 on May 12 about 1700 local time to say they were lost. A five-person SAR team was dispatched, including the firefighter and his drone.  

Within an hour, the hikers had been located, according to Bernalillo County Fire Department Lt. David Lujan. But then the team also became disoriented, he said. The firefighter who was part of the team and had packed his drone into the canyon deployed the aircraft and had it hover over their location. The aircraft helped the team find their way out of the canyon.

Lujan said that the department had been considering purchasing drones before the rescue, but "this particular mission ... proved that it could work," he said.

(Image provided by the Bernalillo County Fire Department)

FMI: Original report

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (09.13.25): Center Weather Advisory

Center Weather Advisory An unscheduled weather advisory issued by Center Weather Service Unit meteorologists for ATC use to alert pilots of existing or anticipated adverse weather >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (09.13.25)

“HITRON embodies the Coast Guard’s spirit of innovation and adaptability. From its humble beginnings as a prototype program, it has evolved into a vital force in our co>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (09.13.25)

Aero Linx: International Airline Medical Association (IAMA) The International Airline Medical Association (IAMA), formerly known as the Airline Medical Directors Association (AMDA)>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Hover Camera Passport - A Gesture Controlled Selfie Drone

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): It’s So Simple to Operate, Anyone Can Do It… And We’re Not Kidding The drones were up and flying at the Consumer Electronics Show he>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 09.09.25: Textron Nixes ePlane, Joby L/D Flt, Swift Approval

Also: Space Command Moves, Alpine Eagle, Duffy Names Amit Kshatriya, Sikorsky-CAL FIRE Collab Textron eAviation is putting the development of its Nexus electric vertical takeoff an>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne 09.15.25: Last Call For RV-3/4/6, Second B-21, Dubai Show Bars Israelis

Airborne 09.12.25: Bristell Cert, Jetson ONE Delivery, GAMA Sales Report

Airborne Affordable Flyers 09.11.25: MWAE25, Tests-Flt Design F2, Vashon Ranger

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

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