Drone Pilot Hero

 Drones are all the rage these days. They use them to inspect for roof damage. Youtubers have them to get that perfect aerial shot for their travel channels. Several traditional fireworks shows have pivoted to drone formats as they can offer a less noisy light show with impressive choreography. Even hobbyists and casual users that just want to learn how to pilot these airborne marvels are becoming more and more common. One such teen hobbyist, Josh Logue from Denver, decided to go for a flight when he spotted something strange on camera, "I just thought it was a shadow or a mud puddle on the ground from all that rain recently. And then when I saw a car in it, I'm like oh...that's a sinkhole."

Josh locating the anomaly

To spot a sinkhole is unique on its own as they are not very common. But for there to be a car in the hole is quite a bit more interesting and this one, had people inside. In fact the couple in the vehicle had already tried calling 911 in their upside-down and injured state but could not give operators good details on their location. Time was running out too as the car was taking on water and about a six inch gap of air remained for them to take in life sustaining oxygen. So as Josh and his dad rapidly approached to investigate the scene their urgency soon grew all the more as they heard voices inside.

Thankfully first responders were able to pull the couple out with the wife having no major injuries and the husband needing a brief stay in the hospital as his injuries, in part, were due to not having a seatbelt on during the incident. Arriving police asked the teen hero if he knew the couple or anything about the Jeep and that is when he explained the random way in which he discovered their predicament. Josh told reporters "I am glad I happened to be flying my drone at the exact same time," further stating, "it was a miracle that it happened. Its crazy that I just happened to be flying down here." It was a miracle indeed and yet another utility that drones can be credited for. Who knows? Maybe search and rescue operations will adopt the technology and get much needed resources looking for people that go missing sooner than normal with even more lives saved as a result.

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