Drone delays Westpac helicopter rescue
 

Had a quick search and didn't find this posted elsewhere

Drone delays air rescue of fisherman stranded on rocks in Gold Coast Seaway - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

"Helicopter rescuers have had to wait for a drone to leave the skies above a boat accident before an injured fisherman could be winched to safety on the Gold Coast."

"CASA spokesman … [said] … "This is an absolute textbook example of what not to do with your drone"

"The pilot of the drone involved has not been found."

Hopefully he(?) will post on social media enabling police / CASA to go after them

I wonder if it would be possible for rescue (and?) aircraft to be fitted with short-range jammers/disrupters to diminish the chance of this sort of thing happening in the future?

The downwash would be sufficient to put it into the drink, provided they can keep it visual on the way.

It was not the drone that delayed the rescue, it was the helo crew. Would the crew have delayed the rescue if a seagull was seen in the area? It could be the drone operator saw the helicopter had landed so didn't need to back off yet. Could be the drone operator was waiting for the helo to lift and would then know it's time to buzz off...

It makes me concerned when a rescuer would let someone risk death because they "saw a drone". Particularly if they can still see where the drone is.

I love drone videos

Here's another...

http://www.facebook.com/thehelicopte...6162750406696/

Not so different from a bird strike. Actually, I'd be much happier hitting a 1 lb DJI drone made out of plastic vs. a nice, solid, 8 lb Canada goose. Actually, I'd be much happier hitting nothing, but you know what I mean!

And there, you are completely wrong! An 8lb Canada goose is big and heavy, but made up of feathers, blood, fat, intestines and a little bit of bones…Yes, it will make a huge mess, might end up on your lap, hell might even knock you out for a little bit but that's about it, unless you are very, very unlucky.
The battery and engines of a DJI (or any other drone) is made of very high dense material that won't bulge or splatter when it hits the first layer of protection (your windscreen)… but will penetrate right trough and hit you, let's say, in the face. Imagine that happening with, say, 100kts.... the battery will probably end up somewhere in the back end of your skull…….

If it hits a critical part of the helicopter… same story. A bird will be sliced to pieces and do some Damage. A part like the battery will most likely destroy the part of the helicopter it hits.

The video damage you show is of a fixed wing, that was most likely travelling about twice or three times the speed of a helicopter if not more...

Regards,
Raymond

Goose into a MRB seems like it would be a catastrophe - - I'd be very interested to know what would happen if a drone hit one. .

I'm not so sure I'm completely wrong. The first video of the drone shown above was at 238MPH, according to this link:

https://www.udayton.edu/blogs/udri/1...in-the-sky.php

So the two videos are roughly comparable if we assume the Cessna in video I posted was doing a typical Cessna Conquest speed.

However, I will agree that your argument about the density/compressibility of a typical LiIon battery has some merit. It would be interesting to see a more definitive study of the relative dangers of greater mass vs. higher density vs windscreens, rotor blades, etc.

Regarding a goose hitting MRBs and being a catastrophe, heres my story...

the pilot of an AS350 was setting seismic bags. Noticed something catch his eye. Glanced up to see a ruffled grouse on short final for his rotor disk.
uneventful return to staging area where the carcass was removed from the cooling air inlet and some stringy gut materials peeled off the roof and trans cowl. Some morbid streaks on the blades worthy of a B rated horror flick.

back to drones...

if this fisherman wasnt critical, there was no rush to pick him up. Why fly with the potential hazard if that was the case?

and the tip speed of an average helicopter will be in the region of 400kts - in the hover - add in a cruise speed of 100 kts and the impact speed (on the advancing side) could easily be 5 -600 kts.

and the damage sustained on that MRB at the tip will be dependant on the type and contruction. Which varies drastically.

I would also like to know what would happen if a drone hit a goose!

Sounds like a fun project - should see if I can get some funding... maybe if I phrase the application along the lines of "impact of gender neutrality in modern context of drone - goose interaction" or such like.

at 500kts, I think the result will be the same, regardless of construction

I disagree.
lets compare R22 and 214....and go.

You go and fly them both into a drone and let us know how you get on #fascilecomparisons

You might be able to cut through small trees with the big Bell blades but, as already discussed, a lithium battery at 500 kts is going to be very different - but do feel free to try....

Hi guys,

For the record, I was the pilot for this and thought I would clarify a few things. We landed about fifty metres away on the rock wall to access the situation as all we were told over the radio was that a boat was being smashed on the rocks with an elderly gentlemen on board. He was unable to be moved by local surfers and rescue jet skiers due to both the waves on the rocks and his bad hip (hip replacement and the fact he was 78 years old). Our rescue crew was able to climb over rocks onto the boat and secure him in a rescue harness on the bow whilst myself and the aircrew waited for his radio call to let us know he was ready for a winch retrieval back into the chopper then to an ambulance (he had deep lacerations on his legs as well). Anyway, whilst we were on the ground waiting for the call with blades still turning, a drone was sighted above us approximately 20 metres ahead. It continued flying around us videoing as close as ten metres from the disc. We had to wait another five minutes for it to leave and I actually filmed it above us on my personal phone. It did hinder our operational response time and we were lucky the patient was secure with our crew and we were told the boat was fairly stable on the rocks at the time. If anyone here thinks I should have risked the crew, myself and the rescue boats and jetskis in the vicinity by becoming airborne whilst it flew within ten metres of our disc, then thats their opinion. Personally, I don't want to be the test pilot hitting a drone to see what happens, regardless of size and weight. I have already had a near miss with a phantom at 100 knots that passed under the rotor disc. The drone pilot who has yet to be identified has contacted the media to let them know he has 'awesome footage' of us sitting on the wall waiting to do the rescue. I will let the authorities that are 'very interested' in chasing that one up! I also refuse to get in a slinging match with drones vs helo's so don't bother if thats what you see here. I just thought people should know a few more of the facts about this job.

Regards,

Luke O'More (duke 996)