Police have described a drone near-miss with a rescue helicopter in the Mournes as “absolute madness” and potentially “catastrophic”.
The incident happened on Saturday evening after the coastguard helicopter successfully rescued a casualty from the Lower Cove area.
Police say the near collision happened as the helicopter was preparing to take off and return to Prestwick, when officers spotted the drone flying in close proximity.
A spokesperson said: “Yesterday evening South Down neighbourhood team were assisting Newcastle Coastguard to secure the landing site for Maritime and Coastguard Agency Rescue Helicopter 199 from Prestwick as they worked with Mourne Mountain Rescue Team to extract a casualty from the area of Lower Cove.”
“With the casualty safely in the back of a Northern Ireland Ambulance Service ambulance, the helicopter crew began to prepare for take-off to return to Prestwick.”
An officer then alerted the coastguard, who in turn informed the crew on board.
“At the same time, officers made their way to the area of the park the drone was spotted in in order to try and identify its whereabouts and the person that was operating it.
“Despite this quick action the drone appeared to have left the area, but people in the park approached the police attempting to point out where the drone had been.
“In short, this is absolute madness,” they added.
“Had that drone impacted with the helicopter at any time, the result would have been catastrophic.
“Drones are not toys.”
Police say the behviour was in breach of the Air Navigation Order and may result in prosecution.
They are appealing to anyone who may have information in relation to the incident to contact them on 101.
by sara-2022
2 comments
I could very well be wrong, but in my mind, a little camera drone would pose absolutely no threat to a helicopter.
I have a drone myself, and it got annihilated by a branch once.
Need to stop wankstain drone pilots from having free reign to do as they please. It’s very clearly turned into something sophisticated and advanced to the point where legislation and training regulations are needed to make sure people know how to safely operate these.
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