OPP loses drone designed to find people

Ontario Provincial Police admit it isanxiousto find a missing drone after it flew away during a test flight on Wednesday.

The OPP saidan Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) flew away at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon during a test flight in a remote area of SouthwoldTownship, a rural community about a half hour southwest of London, Ont.

"The UAS decided it was done workand took off," saidOPP Sergeant Dave Rektor, who described the drone as a "valuable piece" of the OPP's equipment.

The drone was on a test flight after a recent software update when it locked onto unknown GPS coordinates went into a GPS lock at 100 metres in the air.The operator thenlost contact with drone.

Fleet grounded

Drones of the same make and model have been grounded across the province while the police look into what went wrong.

"All 11 of those have been grounded," said Rektor. "The OPP does have four other models which are available in the meantime which we'll continue to use and help with other investigations."

Rektor said that police used thedroneto search primarily for missing or lost persons, as well as to assist in traffic collision investigations.

"They're definitely used quite extensively by the OPP across the province for a number of other things as well." said Rektor.

Police have been searching an area west of St Thomas for the drone and now officers are asking anyone who may have seen or discovered a drone to contact them.