Oregon man stranded in snowy wilderness with no cell service gets creative; authorities 'impressed'

[jcgriff2]

Oregon man attached his iPhone to his drone and launched it into the air​

Good old American ingenuity!

After a man got stranded alone in Oregon's snowy tundra, he found a unique way to call for help by managing to attach his iPhone to his drone in order to send for help.

According to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, the driver attempted to traverse a remote road in the U.S. Forest Service - Willamette National Forest that is not maintained for winter travel.

After his vehicle got stuck in the snowy terrain, he realized he did not have cell phone service — and his family was out of the country, making the situation worse.



"Nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home," the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Continue reading. . .

Oregon man stranded in snowy wilderness with no cell service gets creative; authorities 'impressed'

In this photo reenactment, Lane County Sheriff’s Office showed the motorists [sic] ingenuity
by taking his iPhone and tying it to his drone. (Lane County Sheriff's Search and Rescue )

I've never understood why people that go off by themselves don't carry a satellite GPS-tracking device with them or whatever devices are available for someone to be located.

John

 

[Gary R]

Ingenious, but wouldn't have needed ingenuity if he'd have applied a little common sense before hand, and notified someone about his intention to travel down what was obviously going to be a risky route.

Phones are a useful safety net, but they should never be relied on entirely, especially in Winter conditions. A simple fall can break them, batteries go flat, and of course if you're out in the sticks, there may not be a signal (even if you do have a drone to elevate your transmission point).

 

[Will]

I've never understood why people that go off by themselves don't carry a satellite GPS-tracking device with them or whatever devices are available for someone to be located.

They're expensive

Both the device, and often the subscription service that comes with it can be fairly pricey.