See that red dot? That’s an AI system flagging something of interest during a search for two missing hikers. Image: Fire and Rescue NSW. It was another pair of eyes, high in the sky, that saved two hikers missing in the Snowy Mountains. A call came through to NSW Police when the hikers failed to reach a rendezvous point on Tuesday (23 June). The pair was hiking along the Dead Horse Gap walking track (about 35 kilometres south-west of Jindabyne) in the Snowy Mountains. Rescuers turned to a new modern tool to find the missing hikers: an AI system attached to their drones. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Inspector Phillip Eberle said it was a perfect case for the special drone. “The people were missing from off a track, so we had an approximate idea that they should have been in the area,” he told Region. “People, generally, are never where they think they are, but we know that and factor that into our search patterns.” NSW Police formed an Alpine Search and Rescue (SAR) team with the State Emergency Service (SES) and set off into the cold. Police also requested assistance from FRNSW, which launched a Remotely-Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). READ ALSO The $50 helicopter ride that changed everything for Galong farmer Danny Flanery It was armed with AI software, meaning a drone operator was watching via a camera and flying the aircraft through a grid search. The AI narrowed the search area by helping to identify where the missing hikers were in the alpine environment. “The AI scans the area and scans the information that it can see on its camera and says, ‘OK, this item that I’m looking at has a 35 per cent chance of being human’,” Mr Eberle said. However, he warned that turning the dial to ”100” wouldn’t have made the search even easier. “If we’d mark that as being, say, 100 per cent [sure that it was a human], it wouldn’t pick it up,” he said. “It would say, ‘No, I can’t 100 per cent say that’s a human, so I’m not going to tell you about it’.” The drone’s AI software was locked on the hikers, with its thermal-imaging camera confirming their discovery. The FRNSW operator used the drone’s spotlight to direct the ground crew to the hikers. Mr Eberle said that once they were found, it took the rescuers about four hours to reach the stranded pair. They were then guided to safety around midnight. Mr Eberle said while FRNSW needed to check the software’s findings, it was a largely hands-off tool that could sort through items in the environment by itself. “[When the AI finds something that has] a human appearance, movement, shape, colour … [or it gives off] heat. “It’ll tell the pilot, ‘This is a person’, and then we’ll fly over and double-check that it is. It’s built in and it’s doing it for us, and it’s working very successfully.” The hikers also used light from a mobile phone to help attract the drone in the dark. READ ALSO 'Always keen to see them': Poddy lambs find TLC at Cooma jail For Mr Eberle, combining drones with AI is a game-changer. “The AI has definitely improved what we can do and how we do it,” he said. He believes that the technology can drastically speed up searches — bringing people home faster. “What could have happened in 12 hours or 24 hours, had we not found them? “Were they going to go further into the bush? … Were they going to head off into more danger?” Mr Eberle said he hadn’t spoken with the hikers since their rescue, but stressed it was a timely reminder of the need to take safety seriously in the outdoors. “Anyone going up into the alpine areas in the national parks, they’re welcome — it’s a beautiful area. “They just need to be prepared.” Make us preferred on Google Free, trusted local news delivered direct to your inbox.Keep up-to-date with what's happening around the Capital region by signing up for our free daily newsletter.By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.