Fisherman Uses Drone to Save Drowning Teen at Florida Beach

Dramatic footage has revealed the moment a shark fisherman saved a drowning teenager by using a drone to drop a flotation device.

Drone hobbyist and fisherman Andrew Smith was using his SwellPro Fisherman Max drone to scout the water for sharks off Fort Pickens Beach in Pensacola, Florida earlier this month when he heard screams from the surf.

According to a report by 7 News Miami, a teenage girl was struggling in the water after getting caught in a strong riptide that was pulling her further away from shore. Her friend ran up to Smith and asked if he could swim.

Smith can’t swim due to a seizure disorder and uses a drone instead of a kayak to set bait for sharks. However, the quick-thinking fisherman decided to use his drone to save the teen instead.

“I was sitting there and this girl came running asking if anybody could swim, I said ‘No I absolutely could not swim’, and she was running and screaming and nobody could swim.” Smith tells 7News Miami. “Her friend was getting sucked more and more out, and I looked down at the drone and I was like, ‘Well, the drone can swim but I can’t.’”

Springing into action, Smith grabbed a flotation device and hooked it onto his drone. He then launched the drone into the air and began flying it out over the rough water. He hoped that the girl would be able to grab onto the device and stay afloat long enough until help arrived.

Unfortunately, Smith’s first attempt to fly the flotation device to the teen didn’t go as planned.

“I ran up and grabbed one of those and ran back down to the drone, I flew it out and it was a terrible miss,” Smith says. “I released it too early, it was really windy. Like it wasn’t close at all.”

The worried fisherman knew time was slipping away for the girl. She was getting pulled further away and had been battling the relentless current for five minutes at that point. However, a stranger handed Smith another flotation device and he tried again, carefully piloting his drone amid powerful gusts of wind.

“I flew it back out and after the first one, I could tell how windy it was. So then I lowered it down, you had to go slower and slower down to her because that was it. That was the last opportunity we were going to have,” Smith explains.

This time, Smith’s efforts paid off. Video footage captured by fellow beachgoer Robert Nay shows Smith’s drone struggling against heavy winds and under gray skies as it maneuvers just above the choppy waters. Finally, Smith flies his flotation device low enough for the girl to reach out and grab it.

She clung to the device for another five minutes — long enough for paramedics and lifeguards to arrive on the scene. Thanks to Smith’s resourcefulness and quick thinking under pressure, the girl was brought safely back to shore.

Smith says he teared up once the girl made it safely back to shore and first responders credited him with saving her life. According to Fox10, Smith’s SwellPro Fisherman Max drone is designed to be used while fishing and can hold up to two life jackets.

“The drone has two releases on the bottom and can be used for fishing, and you can carry two life jackets on it and get to people fast,” Smith tells the news outlet. “It has a camera on it too, so I could see the girl’s head on the camera.”

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.