RNLI Tests Drones in Coastal Cliff Rescues to Save Lives

27 October 2026

The RNLI is trialling drones to assist in tricky cliffside rescues, hoping to reduce dangerous delays in locating casualties and getting rescue teams to them.

From 23 to 27 April 2018, the RNLI and Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) conducted a week-long drone trial at St Athan in Wales. Four scenarios were tested, including a cliffside exercise where a drone acted as a crucial communications link between rescue teams and a mock casualty.

In that scenario, the RNLI stated drones can complement existing assets like lifeboats and search-and-rescue helicopters - not replace them. By providing aerial views in hard-to-reach areas and potentially operating at night, drones could help locate casualties faster - and provide rescue teams with better situational awareness before deployment.

Drone use in search and rescue remains an emerging field, with much still to learn. But by building on initial projects like St Athan, the RNLI may soon add a valuable new tool to its lifesaving operations.

Search and rescue by drone

Cliffside rescues like those at Beachy Head and the Wales Coast Path are notoriously hazardous, endangering both casualties and RNLI teams. A drone's ability to hover safely, survey areas, and transmit real-time images could transform these operations.

In April 2018, the RNLI and MCA tested this concept during a week-long exercise at the MOD St Athan base in Wales. The agencies staged four different scenarios to evaluate drone support for search and rescue:

1. A shoreline search, scanning from beach to 150 metres offshore, from lifeboat station to cliff edge 2. An offshore search, covering a 100m area looking for multiple casualties from beach to 1 km offshore 3. A mud rescue exercise with a casualty trapped under a cliff face, from cliff edge to beach 4. An aerial relay scenario where a drone carried messages between teams at opposite cliff ends, transmitting location data

Each scenario covered about 1.5 by 1.5 by 0.5 km, with options including lifeboat and helicopter deployments. The trials aimed to explore how drones could enhance these existing capabilities, not replace them.

Results: Promising potential, but challenges remain

Before St Athan, the RNLI published a 2016 roadmap identifying engineering challenges and potential drone applications. The trials represented a proof of concept, demonstrating viable options and functionalities.

RNLI innovation group member Julie Phelan and Water Safety Manager Rupert Gilbert described St Athan as the culmination of two years' collaboration with SAR partners and industry experts. The trials allowed testing drone capabilities in realistic conditions alongside other assets.

The exercises demonstrated the potential of a rapidly deployable system costing under £10k, as suggested in the 2016 report. They also highlighted limitations like maintaining constant radio contact during drone operations.

The technology isn't yet ready, but the trials identified where it could be most useful, Gilbert told the BBC.

In April 2019, Essex Police, RNLI and MCA began a 12-month trial along the Essex coast. The plan involves basing drones at RNLI lifeboat stations where they can operate effectively with real-time inputs.

With these developments, the RNLI's 2025 target for widespread search-and-rescue drone deployment appears increasingly achievable.