Search and Rescue Teams from around the top of New Zealand’s South Island met in the Molesworth Station at the weekend for a LandSAR exercise. The teams were using unmanned aircraft systems as part of their live scenarios.
Tasman regional SAR committee chairman John King said UAS had been raised as an option by the family of German tourist Christian Prehn, missing in the Nelson Lakes National Park.
The 19-year-old was last seen on February 25 and search teams spent several days searching for him but he has not been found.
“The SAR members have never used UAS at the altitude required for the search in Nelson Lakes. City rules restrict flight to 400 metres, so we need to practise to see if it would be a viable option to use in searches,” King said.
A team from Auckland which had UAS experience was on site during the exercise, he said.
The SAR teams were based beside the Clarence River at the Hanmer end of Molesworth Station for the exercise.
Photo: John Kirk-Anderson/Fairfax NZ
Source: Stuff.co.nz
I saw the TV item last night and it wasn’t that impressive. It all looked fairly ad hoc and disorganised. If the SAR community is serious about integrating unmanned aircraft into their operations they really need to be talking to the commercial UA operators and not trying to invent their own or rely on the DIY UA community. the item was somewhat misleading as it portrayed UA as ‘running on the smell of an oily rag’ and did not portray the actual costs of operation in any way.
I have had some experience of discussing the use of RPAS with UK SAR. Unfortunately they are run as Charities and rely on volunteers and goodwill to provide a very valuable service. In the vast majority of cases they have seen the benefits that the technology would bring but cannot afford to do so at the commercial level.