Casey Ryan is an experienced photographer who frequently goes into the mountains to take wilderness photos with his drone. One snowy morning he and his friend were on just such a trip when they came across a car that was stuck in the snow. When Casey tried to tow the stricken car his own car got stuck in a snowdrift. Now both cars could not be moved, and it was getting late... and the temperature was dropping. They tried to call for help but there was no phone signal deep in the forest. Casey had one more idea that they could try: using his drone to carry the phone above the tree line and send a message.

He punched in a text message to his wife and then attached his phone to the drone. The little drone was not designed to carry so much weight, but eventually it began to rise up through the trees. When they brought it down they were amazed that their plan had worked. The text had been sent and after spending the night in their cars, the local sheriff and his crew arrived the next morning to rescue them. “I’ve been doing search and rescue since 2007”, said the sheriff, “but this was by far the most unique way I’ve ever seen to call for help.”