‘Absolute madness': PSNI condemns potentially ‘catastrophic' near-miss between drone and rescue helicopter

Belfast Telegraph

11-05-2025

The incident unfolded during an operation in the Mournes at the weekend.
Police said it was 'absolute madness' and the person responsible for the drone may now face prosecution.
On Saturday evening, the South Down neighbourhood policing team were assisting Newcastle Coastguard to secure the landing site for a Maritime and Coastguard Agency Rescue Helicopter from Prestwick.
The agencies were working with the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team (MMRT) to extract a casualty from the area of Lower Cove – which contains some of the steepest cliffs in the Mournes.
A PSNI spokesperson said: '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 [in Scotland].
'As the helicopter made their preparations to take off – bearing in mind the engines never stopped whilst the casualty was removed from it, and it's a big noisy, well lit machine – one of the police officers in attendance noted a drone operating in very close proximity to the helicopter.
"They immediately informed a member of Coastguard and members of the MMRT 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 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. Had that drone impacted with the helicopter at any time, the result would have been catastrophic.
'Drones are not toys.
'This behaviour was in clear breach of the Air Navigation Order and may result in a criminal prosecution.'
Drones are small aircrafts that can be remotely controlled. They are used for a wide variety of purposes – most commonly for recreational purposes, they are used for aerial photography and videography
Jill Truesdale, an Alliance Party councillor for the Mournes area, described the actions of the drone operator as 'beyond stupid'.
"Hopefully they will be caught and reminded of the laws around these things,' she added.
"This type of multi-agency incident is not an 'Instagrammable' moment."
Ms Truesdale also indicated a need to 'look into legislation' regarding the ownership and operation of drones here, 'given our unique geographical makeup between sea and mountains'.