Australian rescue team uses AI-powered drone to find lost hikers – video

An artificial intelligence-powered drone located two lost hikers in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales within five hours, marking the first operational rescue using the Fire and Rescue NSW drone's AI detection system [1]. The two men, both in their 20s, had veered off a walking track on Tuesday and were found approximately half a kilometre from the trail [1]. The drone, operated by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), used thermal imaging processed by an onboard AI system to identify the hikers in the rugged terrain [1]. The agency confirmed it was the first time the AI detection capability had been deployed to rescue missing people [1]. Kosciuszko National Park spans 6,900 square kilometres and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, at 2,228 metres above sea level [5][6]. The park's alpine climate and mix of wilderness and mountains make it popular with bushwalkers and skiers, but its scale and topography can complicate search operations [5]. The park is contiguous with Alpine National Park in Victoria to the south and Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory to the northeast [5]. Namadgi, which borders Kosciuszko, occupies roughly 46 percent of the ACT's land area and suffered severe fire damage during the 2019–20 bushfire season, when around 80 percent of its vegetation burned [7]. FRNSW did not immediately release additional details about the hikers' conditions or the specific model of drone used. The rapid location of the pair highlights how thermal sensors paired with machine-learning algorithms can reduce search times in remote areas where ground teams face difficult access and limited visibility. The deployment adds to a growing number of emergency services worldwide testing AI-assisted aerial systems for search and rescue, though documented operational saves remain relatively rare.