Watch: Fisherman uses drone to help girl stuck in rip current

Fisherman uses drone to help save swimmer trapped in rip current

A fisherman preparing to shark fish with his drone near Fort Pickens Beach in Pensacola, Florida, spotted a young swimmer caught in a rip current.

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A fisherman came up with the idea of using his drone to help rescue a swimmer struggling in a rip current off the Florida coast. 

The backstory:

According to FOX 10, Andrew Smith said he was preparing to shark fish with his drone near Fort Pickens Beach last Thursday when he saw a teenage girl struggling in the water. 

Smith grabbed a flotation device and attached it to his drone. 

He then flew the drone to the girl who was able to grab the flotation device. 

Beachgoer Robert Nay shot the video. 

First responders arrived and were able to bring the girl onshore. 

What they're saying:

"I flew it out there and I missed really bad on the first drop," Smith told the outlet. "A lady grabbed another one for me. I was pretty nervous- we flew it out there and we got it down to her. She was way out there — if I didn’t get her with that one, I don’t know if she would have made it any longer."

"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. It has a camera on it too so I could see the girl’s head on the camera," he added.

What are rip currents?

Dig deeper:

A rip forms along the beach where there is a gap in the sandbar. As waves push in between the sandbar and beach, water piles up and flows fast back out to sea through the gap. The National Weather Service said that in certain situations, the current can run up to 5 mph, faster than an Olympic 50-meter swimmer.

See real-life examples of rip currents

This video from NOAA shows what rip currents look like from the beach, how to spot them, and what to do if you get caught in one.

People in the area of the rip can be carried out past the sandbar before the current starts to subside. Some rips can go for several hundred yards. Deaths typically happen when people panic and try to swim against the current, tiring themselves to exhaustion quickly. Most are poor swimmers or those with no swimming skills at all.

What to do in a rip current

What you can do:

Swimmers caught in a rip are advised to simply float or tread water as the current pulls them out. 

Where the current isn’t as strong, start swimming parallel to shore until you’re out of the rip, then swim to shore. If you need help, start waving and yelling toward the beach.