Guest article REGA: Small drone, big danger – How a drone delays a Rega mission

Shortly before 7 p.m., we were called out by the Rega Operations Center on a mission for an injured hiker on the Harder. According to the alert, it was not possible to land directly on the patient, which is why we prepared for a rescue hoist mission. This means that the emergency doctor puts on the “Gstältli” at the base and the paramedic flies in the back of the cabin as the winch operator, instead of in the front of the cockpit as usual.

Dohne spotted…
A few minutes later and after a short overflight from the Wilderswil base to the Harder, we found ourselves at the coordinates transmitted by the operations center. After a short search, we were able to spot the injured person from the air on the hiking trail above the Schibeflue. As we briefly discussed the forthcoming winch operation together, the helicopter was hovering at the height of the Schibeflue hut. At that moment, the paramedic noticed a drone below us and informed me about it. The drone was more of a small model with a diameter of around 20 cm.

Looking out.
Our distance to the slope was about 60 meters, the height above Unterseen about 180 meters. The paramedic was sitting at the back of the winch seat by the open sliding door and had a good view downwards. I had no visual contact with the drone at the time. According to his statement, the drone flew under the helicopter at a distance of approx. 10 meters and at high speed and then disappeared from his field of vision.

Unnecessary disruptive maneuvers lead to the rescue mission being aborted
I turned the helicopter to the left away from the Harder in the direction of Interlaken Hospital and shortly afterwards could see the drone to our right. We watched as it moved away from us in the direction of Unterseen Lehn. After a short time, we no longer had visual contact. I flew a turn and we searched the airspace for the drone, but couldn’t find it. We then decided to start the winch operation.
Shortly after starting the approach to lower the emergency doctor with the winch, the drone appeared again. I saw it flying towards us from Unterseen. I immediately informed the crew and aborted the approach. At this point, our doctor was already on the winch outside the helicopter, but still at the height of the “step bar”. The drone crossed our flight path approx. 10 meters below and approx. 20 meters in front of the helicopter. After flying past, I was able to observe how the drone climbed steeply upwards and reduced speed. At this point, the paramedic could also see the drone on the right-hand side of us. I immediately turned the aircraft in the direction of Unterseen to give us more distance from the drone. We decided to interrupt the mission and landed at a safe distance from Interlaken Hospital. We informed the police about the incident via the Rega Operations Center.

Second rescue attempt successful
From the landing site at Interlaken Hospital, we had a good view of the Schibeflue. After waiting for about 5 minutes and not being able to see the drone during this time, we decided to make another reconnaissance flight to the scene. We did not see the drone again and were able to continue our mission, provide the patient with medical care and then fly him to the nearest suitable hospital without further incident. The police drove to the scene with a patrol vehicle, but were unable to locate the drone pilot.

“I have the right of way. Your drone stays on the ground.”
Flying drones in the vicinity of ongoing rescue operations is prohibited. Such actions can not only endanger us as the helicopter crew, but also the lives of patients who, depending on the mission, may be in urgent need of medical care.

Small and light drones also pose a great danger to us, which is why the rule for drone pilots is simple: If a rescue helicopter approaches the flight area of a drone, the drone pilot must land the drone immediately and remain on the ground until the rescue mission has been completed or the rescue helicopter has flown out of sight again. If everyone adheres to this rule, we can get by without any critical situations.

The FOCA recently took up this topic as part of the #DroneSafeFlying campaign and created various posters.

#DroneSafeFlying campaign (admin.ch)