Two hikers who veered off a walking track in Kosciuszko national park have been found within five hours using a drone powered by artificial intelligence, a first-of-its-kind mission, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has said.
The two men, aged in their 20s, were reported missing at 7pm on Tuesday evening after they failed to return to a rendezvous point on time.
FRNSW’s remote air piloted system was put into the air, and was able to use thermal imaging to find the hikers who had been walking the Dead Horse Gap track, about 35km south-west of Jindabyne.
At the same time, the hikers used a red light on a mobile phone to attract the drone in the dark.
The drone’s built-in speaker was able to contact the hikers, and the drone’s spotlight was used to direct rescuers on the ground to the hikers, in order to guide them out of the park. The pair was found about half a kilometre off the track.
In cold conditions, the men were rescued less than five hours after being reported missing. They were suffering mild effects of exposure but told rescuers they did not need medical treatment.
The incident was the first time the FRNSW drone’s AI detection system had been used to rescue missing people.
The Fire and Rescue inspector and regional duty commander for the NSW Alpine area, Phillip Eberle, told the ABC the technology potentially reduced the search time by several days.
“It’s definitely helped make what could have been a long-term incident into a very short-term incident,” Eberle said.
“There’s every chance in the world we could have still been out there.”
Eberle said the drone technology meant swifter rescues for those stranded, but also fewer risks for rescuers.
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“It means less time on the mountain and less time looking for people, and reduced risk so that the volunteers can get home to their families quicker.”
He said he hoped in the future, the remote technology would progress so that drones could drop off emergency supplies and care packages to stranded people while they waited for rescuers.
“We can save putting rescuers at risk overnight and drop a rescue pack to people so they’re OK overnight, and be there first thing in the morning when it’s safer for everyone,” he told the ABC.
The Fire and Rescue commander John Marzol said: “We would urge hikers in the snowfields to notify the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) before their treks and register for free use of Personal Locator Beacons to ensure they don’t get lost in the bush.”