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Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue
This is an example provided by the Lane County Sheriff of the drone with mobile phone arrangement used by the stranded driver. It’s not the actual drone and phone used.
An American motorist stuck in snow in an isolated forest area in the US was able to alert rescuers to his plight by attaching a mobile phone to a drone.
The incident was highlighted by the local area search and rescue group, which both praised and criticised the stranded driver.
The motorist had recently taken a vehicle along a remote road, that was not maintained for winter travel, in the US Forest Service’s Willamette National Forest in the state of Oregon, the Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Facebook page reported.
The driver’s vehicle became stuck in the snow in an area that didn’t have mobile coverage, a common problem in many forested areas in the county.
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Making the motorist’s situation worse, his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone, or to call for help if he didn’t make it home.
“Regardless of the circumstances leading to his situation, once stranded this person made several smart decisions,” the sheriff’s office said.
“He used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help. The man had a drone with him and attached his cell phone to the drone.
Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue
The Lane County Sheriff’s office said it had rescued dozens of motorists stuck in the snow this (Northern) winter. Nearly the stuck vehicles had four-wheel-drive.
“He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air.
“The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation,” the sheriff’s office said.
The driver had also stayed with his vehicle. “Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but we have unfortunately seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to walk away.”
As a bonus, search and rescue teams that went to help the stranded driver found another motorist nearby who had been stuck in the snow for several days.
The Willamette National Forest stretches for about 175km along the western slopes of the Cascade Range in western Oregon. It includes several high peaks, and its lowest elevation is about 450m above sea level.
The sheriff’s office said it was “impressed with the creativity displayed” by the trapped driver, but also reinforced some commonsense safety messages.
Forest roads that were not maintained for winter travel and covered by even a small amount of ice or snow, should only be driven by groups of well-equipped vehicles, it said.
People using the roads in winter should always tell a responsible person exactly where they were going, and not deviate from that plan.
”Of the dozens of missions we have had this winter involving a vehicle stuck in the snow, nearly all of them were 4×4 vehicles and almost all of the drivers told us, ‘I didn’t think I would get stuck’.”
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