DJI FlyCart 30: How delivery drones can benefit search and rescue

• Watch video of DJI FlyCart transporting a stretcher, as part of a demonstration conducted by heliguy™ to showcase the benefits of this heavy-lift drone for search and rescue;

• Darryl Ashford-Smith, Training Officer for Search and Rescue Aerial Association - Scotland says solutions like the FlyCart can increase efficiency and reduce risk to team members during incident response;

• Use cases for search and rescue include negotiating hazardous terrain, relieving team and logistical burden, and transporting vital supplies during major weather incidents;

• heliguy™ has an in-house UK SORA consultancy to help organisations obtain permissions to operate the FlyCart. We can provide demonstrations under our heavy-lift authorisation.

In search and rescue, every second counts. Yet transporting essential equipment across mountains, rivers, or floodwaters can slow down teams and put lives at risk.

But now, heavy-lift drones like the DJI FlyCart 30 provide a solution to combat this challenge — delivering life-saving equipment and supplies directly to remote or hazardous locations.

Darryl Ashford-Smith, Training Officer for the Search and Rescue Aerial Association (SARAA) – Scotland, believes this technology can transform incident response.

“Drones like the DJI FlyCart 30 provide huge potential for a number of search and rescue incident types,” he said.

“They can increase efficiency, reduce the impact on resources such as the teams that would have to deploy either on foot or by rescue boat perhaps, and reduce, or negate risk to responders.”

His comments followed a heliguy™ demonstration of the DJI FlyCart 30 during SARAA’s Annual Training Weekend, which showcased the drone’s ability to transport a stretcher or other equipment via its winch system.

With a 20-metre retractable cable supporting a 30kg max payload (dual batteries) or 40kg (single battery) — plus automatic load release upon ground contact — the FlyCart 30 is designed for challenging missions. It also supports a 70L cargo box.

Heavy-Lift drones in action: Search and rescue use cases

The demonstration highlighted just how versatile heavy-lift drones for search and rescue can be in real-world missions.

Darryl explained:

• Negotiating hazardous terrain: “Solutions like the DJI FlyCart 30 are especially useful where equipment has to be transported across water or steep or difficult terrain.”

• Relieving team burden: “In the case of teams that have long walk-ins to cliff areas where rescue would require long and heavy ropes or other equipment, the drone could deliver it directly.”

• Transporting vital supplies during major weather incidents: “Medication and other critical equipment could be dispatched in minutes. This could easily be the case in major floods where remote dwellings have been cut off from access by road or foot. This could negate the need for water rescue responders to deploy a rescue boat, put on personal protective equipment, and be exposed to the risk of moving water. This could equally be the case in a snow storm."

By reducing risk and increasing efficiency, drones like the FlyCart 30 enable search and rescue teams to focus on their primary mission: Saving lives.

DJI FlyCart 30 and UK drone regulations

Darryl concedes that integrating heavy-lift drones into standardised workflows is a fairly complex process.

For starters, a UK SORA authorisation is required to operate the FlyCart 30 because it weighs more than 25kg.

Use cases such as winch operations or BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) flights also require detailed submissions as part of a SORA application - 'the cost of which is a barrier as lowland and mountain/search and rescue teams are all voluntary and rely on donations', said Darryl.

Despite this, he is buoyed by what solutions like the DJI FlyCart 30 will bring to the public safety sector - even in the long run. 

He said: “It is an exciting piece of technology with huge potential for search and rescue. And this is only the start — solutions like this will just get more cost-effective and more capable.”

Earlier this year, DJI launched the FlyCart 100 in China, with an 80kg payload capacity, proving the rapid pace of drone innovation in this sector.

heliguy™ Support with DJI FlyCart 30 and UK SORA

heliguy™ has an in-house UK SORA consultancy to support organisations applying for authorisation to operate heavy-lift drones like the DJI FlyCart 30.

We have already obtained our own CAA permissions to operate the FlyCart 30, giving us first-hand experience that we can pass on to teams and organisations.

Alongside consultancy, we also provide live demonstrations of the DJI FlyCart 30 in action, helping clients see the benefits first-hand. Contact us to find out more.

About SARAA – Scotland

Founded in 2018, SARAA - Scotland is a charity dedicated to integrating drones into Scottish Mountain Rescue. It has around 30 pilots and operates a fleet of DJI aircraft to support life-saving missions.