Drone delays LifeFlight helicopter carrying critically ill child at Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah

A surveying drone flying directly above a LifeFlight helicopter at Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, Utah forced all air operations to halt while a child in critical care waited for emergency transport to another facility. The Lehi City Police Department shared video of the incident, filmed by the South Jordan Fire Department, showing the drone hovering over the helicopter on the hospital’s helipad.

Here is what you need to know:

• The Incident: At approximately 3:40 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, a drone was spotted flying directly above a LifeFlight helicopter at Primary Children’s Hospital, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi, Utah. The helicopter was attempting to take off with a child in critical care who needed transport to a different medical facility.
• The Fallout: All air operations at the hospital were suspended until officials confirmed the airspace was clear. The delay directly affected the transport of a critically ill child.
• The Update: Lehi police later identified the drone as a surveying drone and tracked down the operator and the company involved. Police said the individual was apparently not aware the helicopter was attempting to take off. The incident is being handled.
• The Source: Lehi City Police Department via Facebook, with additional reporting from KUTV and FOX 13.

The drone operator did not know the helicopter was preparing to take off

A surveying drone flying above a hospital helipad delayed the emergency transport of a critically ill child at Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, Utah, after all air operations were grounded until the airspace could be confirmed safe. Lehi police identified the drone operator and the company involved, and said the individual was apparently unaware the LifeFlight helicopter was preparing for takeoff.

The incident happened at approximately 3:40 p.m. when South Jordan Fire Department personnel filmed the drone hovering directly over the LifeFlight helicopter on the hospital helipad. The helicopter had arrived to pick up a child in critical care who needed transport to a different facility for further treatment.

Because a drone was spotted in the area, all air operations had to stop. That is standard protocol. When an unauthorized drone is detected near an active helipad, flight crews cannot risk a mid-air collision. The child waiting for transport had no say in the delay.

Lehi police initially reported that the helicopter was landing when the drone was spotted. They later corrected this, confirming that the helicopter was actually attempting to take off. The distinction matters. A helicopter on approach has limited options. A helicopter on the pad preparing for departure can wait, but every minute of waiting is a minute that a critically ill child is not receiving the care they need at the destination facility.

The police update confirmed the drone was a surveying drone. The operator was identified along with the company. According to the Lehi City Police Department, “we don’t believe that the individual was aware of the helicopter attempting to take off.”

That detail is worth sitting with. The operator was flying beyond visual line of sight, conducting a survey, and their situational awareness was limited to the narrow field of view of their camera. They did not see the helicopter. They did not hear it. They had no idea they were grounding an emergency medical transport for a child.

Hospital helipads are active even when they look empty

Hospital helipads with helicopters present on them should always be treated as active landing zones, regardless of whether the rotors are spinning. Lehi police made this point directly in their public statement, warning drone operators that it can be extremely difficult to predict when a helicopter will take off. A mid-air collision can happen fast.

Primary Children’s Hospital, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus, opened in Lehi in February 2024. It is the second campus of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. The facility serves one of the fastest-growing pediatric populations in the country, and LifeFlight transports are a regular part of its operations. LifeFlight performs more than 800 pediatric transports per year across the Intermountain West.

Lehi police addressed online comments suggesting that helicopter rotors would simply destroy a drone without any danger to the aircraft. The department pushed back on that assumption hard. “Rotors are NOT steel and while a helicopter MAY remain in controlled flight long enough to land, there are also cases that the helicopter came down in a less than controlled maneuver,” they wrote. “Certainly, at a minimum the helicopter rotors and other components would suffer significant damage.”

That is not speculation. In January 2021, a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone collided with a Chilean navy helicopter, punching through the windshield and injuring a passenger. The NTSB has also documented a collision between a DJI Mavic 2 drone and a helicopter during an off-road race in California, concluding that the drone pilot failed to yield. In September 2020, the FAA investigated a near-miss between a DJI Mavic Mini and an Aero Med helicopter landing at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These are not hypothetical risks.

This is the latest in a growing pattern of drone interference with emergency air operations

The Utah incident adds to a string of similar cases that DroneXL has been tracking. In February 2025, a drone blocked a medical helicopter in Orangefield, Texas while first responders worked to save a three-year-old drowning victim. The drone was flying 50 to 100 feet directly above the helicopter. That pilot was later charged with a misdemeanor for interfering with public duties.

In December 2024, a medevac helicopter was forced to abort its emergency response in Branchburg Township, New Jersey after drones were spotted near the landing zone. The helicopter was responding to a seriously injured accident victim. The drone operators were never identified.

And in January 2025, a civilian drone collided with a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft during the Palisades fire in Los Angeles, punching a fist-sized hole in the wing and grounding the aircraft during one of the worst wildfire disasters in the region’s history.

The pattern is consistent. Unauthorized drones show up in active airspace, manned aircraft have to stop flying, and people on the ground pay the price in delayed care or delayed emergency response.

FAA penalties for drone interference have increased sharply

Federal consequences for interfering with aircraft operations are real and increasing. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 raised the maximum civil penalty for unauthorized drone operations to $75,000 per violation. In August 2024, the FAA proposed $341,413 in civil penalties against 27 drone operators for various violations, including a $32,700 fine for a single incident involving a drone that nearly caused a mid-air collision with a sheriff’s helicopter in Florida.

Beyond federal fines, states are moving independently. Oregon passed House Bill 3426, making intentional drone interference with emergency operations a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $125,000 in fines. Even unintentional interference is a Class B misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail. Congress is now studying counter-drone measures for wildfire and emergency zones, including the authority to physically disable or destroy drones that enter restricted airspace.

Under existing FAA rules, drones must yield to all manned aircraft at all times. Period. 14 CFR 107.37 states that each small unmanned aircraft must give way to all aircraft and may not pass over, under, or ahead of it unless well clear. Drone operators are also required to land as soon as possible if they become aware of manned aircraft operating in the area.

What drone operators need to know about flying near hospitals

Lehi police offered specific guidance for drone operators. Drones should not be operated within three-quarters of a mile (approximately 1.4 km) of a helipad unless approved by the FAA. If you are flying and become aware of any aircraft in the area, you are required to yield, divert from its path, and land as soon as possible.

The B4UFLY app from the FAA shows controlled airspace and temporary flight restrictions, but it does not always flag hospital helipads. That is on the operator to check. If you are flying anywhere near a hospital campus, assume a helicopter could arrive or depart at any moment. Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi sits on a 38-acre campus that includes a helipad supporting one of the oldest and largest civilian medical transport programs in the country.

For surveying operators specifically, this incident is a wake-up call. BVLOS survey operations that run automated flight paths over urban areas need pre-flight airspace checks that go beyond just pulling up a map. You need to physically identify hospital helipads, know the LifeFlight and AirMed corridors in your area, and have a plan for immediately recalling your aircraft if manned traffic appears.

DroneXL’s Take

This one hits differently because the operator did not know. That is the part that should worry every professional pilot reading this.

We spend a lot of time covering reckless operators who fly drones near wildfires for social media clout or idiots who buzz helicopters for YouTube views. Those stories are easy to process. Bad person does bad thing, gets caught, gets fined. Lesson learned.

This is a different kind of failure. A surveying operator, likely running a legitimate commercial job, had no idea they were grounding an emergency medical helicopter carrying a critically ill child. Their camera was pointed at whatever they were surveying. Their awareness was limited to that narrow frame. The helicopter, the helipad, the child, none of it registered.

I have been covering drone incidents for years. The ones that concern me most are not the willful violations. Those get caught eventually. The ones that keep me up are the competent operators who simply did not check their surroundings thoroughly enough before launching. One missed NOTAM, one unchecked helipad, one assumption that “nobody flies here” and suddenly you are the reason a child in critical care waits an extra 20 minutes for transport.

Lehi police deserve credit for how they handled this. They identified the operator, confirmed the drone type, assessed intent, and communicated all of it publicly. That is exactly the kind of measured, factual response that builds trust between the drone community and law enforcement. They did not grandstand. They educated.

But here is my prediction: within the next 12 months, we will see at least one state pass legislation specifically requiring geo-fencing compliance zones around hospital helipads, similar to what already exists for airports. The political pressure from incidents like this, where a child’s emergency care is delayed, is the kind of thing that moves legislators fast. Oregon already made emergency interference a felony. Utah could easily follow.

If you are a drone operator, do not wait for the law to force the issue. Check for helipads before every flight. Know the medical flight corridors in your area. If you are running a BVLOS survey and you cannot maintain awareness of the airspace above and around your flight path, you are not ready to fly that mission.

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.