By James Careless


T


he teaming of manned search and rescue (SAR) helicopters with unmanned aerial systems (aka drones) is an idea whose time has come. Remotely controlled drones can be immediately dispatched to search for victims and identify landing zone hazards while a SAR helicopter is preparing to fly. Once aloft, the SAR helicopter crew can use the drone’s data to reduce its flight time to the victims.


“Unmanned systems can reduce exposures and risks to SAR personnel as part of their operations,” said Johnny T. Doo, group leader for NASA Transformative Vertical Flight Working Group 4 – Public Services and also president of International Vehicle Research, Inc. “It’s a combination that is becoming more and more popular because there


are tasks in SAR that are not human-friendly,” added Juan Plaza, a UAV/general aviation consultant. “Drones can search for victims at night during fires and other environmental conditions that pose dangers to manned aircraft.”


The big question for SAR operators is just how far the teaming concept can go. Given advances in artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous (self-flying) drones, and computing power onboard manned helicopters, it seems possible that tomorrow’s SAR helicopters could fly out accompanied by swarms of self-coordinating surveillance drones that could do more than just relay visual data back to their human operators.


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