Air ambulance pilots and CAA issue warning to drone flyers on World Pilot Day
Above: CAA Gatwick offices.
Copyright CAA
The UK has 21 air ambulance charities flying on average 134 lifesaving missions each day. As well as using hospital landing sites they can fly to emergencies across the nation, including serious road accidents.
Disappointingly nine of those flights in 2025 were affected by drones flying too close to helicopters. In the worst cases this resulted in life saving flights being delayed or even aborted.
While drones have access to much of the UK’s airspace, they must be kept clear of emergency situations and anyone found guilty of endangering an aircraft with a drone can go to prison.
Air ambulance pilots and the UK Civil Aviation Authority are therefore calling on drone pilots to fly safely and sensibly and follow the rules when they fly. To help, the CAA and Air Ambulances UK, which represents air ambulance charities, have launched a new set of videos, explaining the rules and advice for drone pilots. They are available on YouTube.
Captain Andy Moorhouse, Chief Pilot at Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, said: “If you are flying a drone and you see or hear an air ambulance helicopter, please land your drone and let us carry on with our mission. We have no sensors in the aircraft to be able to detect where a drone is and a mid-air collision with a drone could be catastrophic. We’re dispatched to over 150 patients a month on average and it’s imperative that nothing gets in the way of us delivering this life-saving pre-hospital care.”
Drone users must avoid flying near emergencies as Jonathan Nicholson from the UK Civil Aviation Authority explained: “UK regulations specifically state that drones should not fly close to or inside areas where an emergency response effort is ongoing, unless they have permission to do so from the emergency services. Drone users can check the safety rules and advice in our Dronecode available on our website at www.caa.co.uk/drones.”
Jamie Ward, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Air Ambulances UK said: “As well as needing to protect helicopters landing at emergencies it is also vital that drone users avoid their landing sites at hospitals. These could be on the roofs of the hospital building or in its grounds. Often the helicopter is bringing someone critically ill to the hospital for life saving care.”
