Drone hinders air rescue operation

It was at the beginning of 2024 in Menden (North Rhine-Westphalia) when the rescue helicopter "Christoph Westfalen" was called to a serious road accident. An Audi had left the road at around 8 p.m. in the evening and entered the oncoming lane on a bend, where it collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.

The arriving fire and rescue services counted a total of five injured people, one of whom was so seriously injured that she required emergency medical treatment and had to be taken to hospital. The rescue helicopter was requested for this person.

Suddenly, a buzzing noise was heard above the scene of the accident. Apparently someone was flying a photo drone to take spectacular photos of the accident scene from above. Due to the darkness, the drone could only be roughly identified by the police present on the basis of its lighting from below. In any case, it would have been too dangerous for the requested rescue helicopter to land because of the drone.

The helicopter crew was warned by radio about the illegal drone at the scene, whereupon it headed for a landing site around six kilometers away. This distant landing of the helicopter and the associated logistical transportation effort for the emergency doctor and patient had a detrimental effect on the time-critical, prehospital patient treatment.

It was a coincidence that the emergency services spotted the drone in time. The UAS would have been invisible to the crew of the rescue helicopter.