UAH drone operator discovered stranded boater in Hurricane Ian

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - A research engineer in the Rotorcraft Systems Engineering and Simulation Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville was part of a team that discovered a stranded boater in Hurricane Ian.

Civil Air Patrol 1st Lieutenant Casey Calamaio was operating a drone that helped pinpoint a boater stuck at sea in Florida.

“This was as real as it gets when it comes to UAS in an emergency response situation,” says Calamaio, who also supported efforts as an Unmanned Aircraft Systems pilot and geospatial subject matter expert. “We arrived in Florida during a period of the disaster response where it wasn’t just clean up.”