Nightingale pilots request public’s help with drone and laser safety

Sentara’s Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance was on the ground at a fire station on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, rotors turning, while the flight nurse and paramedic readied a patient for a ‘hot load.’

Pilot Scott ‘Smoke’ Moak, strapped in the cockpit, noticed movement nearby and caught sight of a drone hovering near the helipad.

Helicopters do tend to draw curious crowds.

Moak radioed the landing zone supervisor, and firefighters fanned out to look for the operator. The drone disappeared in time for Nightingale to take off safely, but the encounter could have delayed departure.

“Drones can cause a lot of damage,” Moak says. “They can damage our rotors and cause us to land hard or crash. All the air medical pilots I know are talking about drones.”

Something similar happened at the Outer Banks Health Hospital, when a drone taking video of a nearby wedding buzzed the helipad as guests watched over the privacy fence.

“We understand that drones are a fact of life,” says Nightingale Program Manager and Flight Nurse Denise Baylous.

“There are licensed professionals who follow the FAA safety rules, and then there are hobbyists, who don’t know the rules and don’t think about the consequences of a drone strike on a helicopter.”

The Federal Aviation Administration has a webpage on drone safety, which encourages users to register their drones and learn the rules for safe and legal operation.

The Nightingale team asks drone operators to maintain a respectful distance from flight operations, and keep their drones on the ground when Nightingale, or any other air ambulance, is landing or departing a scene or a hospital.

‘Lose the Laser’

People love their laser light displays during the holidays. Pilots, not so much.

The proliferation of cascading snowflakes on the sides of homes includes displays in which lasers are inadvertently positioned to shine over rooflines and into the night sky. Those laser beams can briefly blind pilots of airplanes and helicopters, especially air ambulances like Nightingale, which fly low and often land in uncontrolled areas.

"The biggest concern is that a laser enters the aircraft and causes a scintillation effect across the cockpit," explained Senior Pilot Joe Sherman. “That can create a vision and control issue at a critical moment.” Nightingale’s pilots wear night vision equipment, which amplify a laser strike on the aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration notes that pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime that can bring criminal and civil prosecution and fines of up to $11,000 per violation. The FAA issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes in 2021.

"Point your laser displays at your house, not into the sky,” urged Sherman. “If you know there are aircraft operating in your area, definitely don’t point them at those.”