A Tatra hut drone sees Rysy in six minutes

For six months, stations in the Polish Tatras let a rescue drone launch remotely while the pilot stayed at headquarters. TOPR mountain rescuers tested three DJI Dock 3 stations and one newer Dock 4. The trial was offered by INNPRO, a company the service has long worked with on drones.

The stations stood by the hut above Morskie Oko, by the hut in the Valley of Five Polish Lakes, and at headquarters. A pilot down in the valley could launch a drone from Morskie Oko, for example, and within six minutes see what was happening on Rysy or on Szpiglasowa Pass.

The aircraft were DJI Matrice 4TD and 5TD — day and night, in precipitation and full sun, in gusts up to 20 m/s, with permission from Tatra National Park. Besides looking over a scene, a drone can deliver a headlamp, an emergency blanket or a defibrillator; it also carries a light, a thermal camera and a loudspeaker.

TOPR has used drones since mid-2021. At first they were for searches, then for passing equipment and scouting an accident site alongside helicopter flights. There were 8 such rescue flights in 2021, and 61 by the end of September 2026.

After the test the service is looking at other sites: the weather-station area on Kasprowy Wierch and huts in the Kościeliska and Chochołowska valleys, possibly as soon as next year. TOPR also asks people not to fly private drones in the Tatras: that breaks air rules in the park zone and puts the helicopter and people below it at risk.