Drones take flight over Expo Center
By James Beaty | Senior editor
A pair of “eyes in the sky” hovered over a field outside the Southeast Expo Center on Friday as emergency responders from around Southeastern Oklahoma gazed upwards.
They watched as two relatively small drones took separate flights and battled gusty winds but continued to rise, higher and higher in the bright blue sky during a series of demonstration flights for emergency responders.
Wind gusts as high as 20 mph occasionally caused the drone to swerve during one demonstration flight, but it soon set itself back on course. A camera mounted on the drone transmitted images from the ground back to a computer screen set up below, as those attending the demonstration crowded in for a closer look.
The McAlester/Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management and the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office are considering partnering to purchase a drone.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said he would like to have a camera-equipped drone available to help search for lost children, seniors and others. He also noted it would be helpful in providing information about wildfires.
McAlester/Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe would also like to use the drones in search and rescue operations and to provide information when fighting wildfires or in the aftermath of a tornado to assess damage and search for survivors.
Darren Hensley, CEO of American Drones LLC,
demonstrated how to fly the drones, first by using a guidance system similar to those used to operate radio- guided model planes.
As another gust of wind whipped through the throng, the drone rocked back and forth but continued its flight. Hensley noted the drones were battling the elements.
He also told those watching the demonstration if the guidance system ever stopped working, then the drone would automatically fly back to the spot from which it launched.
In addition to the local sheriff and emergency management personnel, others watching the demonstration included members of the McAlester Police Department, the Le Flore County Office of Emergency Management, the Kiowa Fire Department and the Crowder Fire Department, among others.
District 1 Pittsburg County Commissioner Gene Rogers joined those watching the demonstration and commented on the drones.
“There’s a lot of benefit to it, a lot of situations where they could come in pretty handy” he said. “They could sure fly down a fire line and look it over, or hunt for an individual.”
Meanwhile, Hensley demonstrated how the drone could also be operated by a computer laptop.
“I can make it go higher with ‘up’ on the keyboard,” he said, as a drone climbed in altitude in response to the computer command.
Hensley said drones can be equipped with several types of cameras, including high resolution and thermal imaging cameras.
Sheriff Kerns hoped to see a demonstration with a thermal imaging camera, known as Forward Looking Infrared, or FLIR camera. When he learned one wouldn’t be forthcoming on Friday, he soon left the demonstration.
Referring to a thermal imaging camera, Kerns said “This is the one I want. That’s going to be one of the requirements I’m going to ask for.”
Kerns said in the case of a lost child, for instance, such a camera would be of great assistance.
“My part is going to be search and rescue,” Kerns said. “If we had that, we could go to the last place a child was seen” and then put the drone in the air to hopefully spot the child, he said.
Enloe said he didn’t plan on making a decision Friday, but would probably check with several more companies for demonstrations.
Still, he hoped to have a drone purchased before much more time passes.
“I would like to have a decision made pretty quick,” Enloe said.
