New Brunswicker wants UAV’s used to help in search and rescues

SHEDIAC, N.B. – The popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, is taking off in the Maritimes but some say so is the controversy surrounding their use.

Marc Leblanc believes that drones are getting a bad reputation and says even the name sounds negative.

“When they hear the name ‘drone’ they think military drone so it kinda has a bad connotation to it,” Leblanc said.

He prefers to call them UAV’s or unmanned aerial vehicles.

“To me if you’re using a UAV to invade someone’s privacy then you are not doing it right.”

He wants to use his drone to help others by volunteering with ground search and rescue crews in the province. Earlier this year, he volunteered in the search for a missing canoeist near Shediac.

“If you have the technology such as this and it’s just sitting there and you can throw a battery in it and you have the skills and equipment to do so then why not,” he said in an interview with Global News.

But drones are not widely used in ground search and rescue in New Brunswick says Joseph LaBelle, search manager for the Tri-Country Ground Search and Rescue.

“The advent of UAV’s are definitely an interesting tool that we could add to our tool box of what we use to locate people,” he said. “We have worked with the RCMP who have that capability where it’s relatively recent in the last 18 months.”

But he says just how effective the devices actually are in seeking and finding a missing person remains to be seen. The high tech gadgets do have their limits.

“Limitations are rain and wind,” said Leblanc.

Also, each flight can only last about 15 minutes for the average battery.

The technology not only has its limitations, so do the pilots. Under Transport Canada regulations, drones can’t be flown over 400 feet and the pilot has to keep the device in their line of sight at all times.

Leblanc hopes they’ll one day be more widely used to help people find lost loves ones.

“What I would like to see is eventually all the teams in New Brunswick have a UAV with people trained to operate them.”