Drones and AI Could Transform Search and Rescue. One Hiccup Is Holding Them Back.

February 12, 2026

The Weber County, Utah, search and rescue (SAR) team has a new drone that’s the size of a chunky black lab, but with a ten-foot wingspan sporting 16 scything blades. The man piloting the DJI Flycart 30, commercial airline pilot Kyle Nordfors, is one of the nation’s foremost SAR drone pilots. Still, most in the crowd involuntarily lean back when the aircraft buzzes to life and lifts off.

Nordfors is demonstrating the massive drone and its uses to a group of rescuers from across the globe at the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) conference. In the scenario, staged at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, another drone pilot has already located the decoy “victims.” Now, Nordfors wants to deliver a 30-pound rescue litter, a stretcher in a metal basket, to the scene. Outside