Houston-based search and rescue organization Texas EquuSearch has returned to the use of drones for missions after being involved in a legal conflict over using the unmanned aircraft to find missing persons.
The group started using the machine Wednesday for its search in Livingston, East Texas for a 57-year-old man that has been missing since July 9th, according to MyFox Houston.
Texas EquuSearch's use of drones ended in February, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an order to stop the flights. The group responded by suing the FAA, and the appeals court said there were no legal consequences in the agency's warning. Wednesday was the first time that the group was able to use a drone since receiving a favorable appeals court ruling in early July.
Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, said the drone made searches a lot easier because of its ability to carefully search areas that the group's volunteers would have trouble doing on foot or with all-terrain vehicles, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
"It's very, very hot out here today, people getting tired, having to take several breaks and stay hydrated. The drone gets stuff done a lot faster than our ground searches," Miller said in a telephone interview.
He added that he didn't let the FAA know that his nonprofit group was using the drone because the location they were searching was not near federal airspace, which includes areas that surround airports. FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford declined to comment Wednesday on the group's use of the aircraft.
The drone was operated on Wednesday by Gene Robinson, who is also providing the aircraft to the group through his nonprofit organization RP Flight Systems Inc., NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported. Robinson said the machine takes 50 to 100 photos of a search area while it is in the air. If nothing is found after the photos are reviewed, the 4.5-pound drone is sent back up to keep looking.
Texas EquuSearch has returned 300 missing people alive to their family and friends. Miller said the group has found the remains of almost 180 people who were reported missing, adding that 11 of these recoveries since 2005 happened because they used drones.
