An Angus bull escaped from a livestock trailer along Interstate 40 in Iredell County, North Carolina, on Sunday, July 26, 2026, cleared the interstate fence, and fell into a deep ravine covered in kudzu. The terrain was too dangerous and inaccessible for rescuers to enter on foot.
Foothills Aerial Services, a drone operator based in Statesville, launched a DJI Avata 2 instead. The pilot used the small FPV aircraft to inspect the bull and then guide it through the vegetation toward stable ground, where its owners could rope it and reload it for a veterinary evaluation.
The Avata 2 Turned Overwatch Into Action
Foothills first used the drone to establish an aerial view, check whether the bull was caught in barbed wire, and assess its condition from a safe distance. The aircraft then descended for the unusual part of the mission: steering the animal toward a route out of the ravine.
WBTV reported that the bull appeared to have only soft-tissue injuries and could stand after the fall. The Avata 2’s fully enclosed propeller system allowed the pilot to fly low near the animal without exposing the bull or responders to open propellers.
Once the bull reached stable ground, crews kept the drone overhead while its owners roped it and loaded it back into the trailer. WSOC-TV separately reported that the animal was taken to a veterinarian to assess its injuries.
Enclosed Propellers Fit The Ravine
The mission called for an aircraft that could fly close to vegetation and a frightened animal while giving the pilot a first-person view. DJI describes the Avata 2 as an FPV drone with integrated propeller protection, a design that matched those tight, low-altitude conditions.
A larger camera drone could have provided overhead video, but the rescue required more than observation. The pilot had to work close enough to influence the bull’s direction while avoiding vines, branches, fence wire, responders, and the animal itself. The Avata 2’s guarded airframe reduced the hazards presented by exposed propellers.
That distinction explains why the aircraft mattered. It did not replace the owners or rescue crew. It gave them a way to inspect and move the bull without sending a person into a steep, overgrown ravine.
FPV Skill Made The Tool Useful
Flying a guarded FPV drone through dense vegetation is different from launching a GPS-stabilized camera drone for high-altitude overwatch. The Iredell County recovery depended on a pilot who could control the aircraft close to obstacles while reading the bull’s movement and keeping the exit route in view.
Foothills Aerial Services offers deer recovery, lost pet and livestock recovery, thermal imaging, and search-and-rescue support. That field experience turned the Avata 2 from a camera into a working part of the rescue plan.
The incident also adds another example to North Carolina’s reliance on DJI equipment for public safety. DroneXL reported in 2024 that Iredell County deputies had used drones to find a missing girl and support other incidents. This bull recovery involved a private operator and rescue squad rather than the sheriff’s drone unit, but the operational lesson is similar: the right aircraft can keep responders out of hazardous terrain.
DroneXL’s Take
I fly drones at 9,350 feet (2,850 meters) in Quito, and I have spent enough time around complicated terrain to know the difference between photographing a rescue and participating in one. This drone did more than record the bull. The pilot used it to change the outcome on the ground.
Once again, DJI supplied the right tool for a real public-safety problem. That is uncomfortable for policymakers trying to push Chinese drones out of the American market, but discomfort does not change what happened in Iredell County. A small, guarded FPV aircraft kept rescuers out of a dangerous ravine and helped return an injured animal to its owners.
The more useful lesson is about training. Buying an Avata 2 is easy. Flying one close to an animal in thick kudzu without making the situation worse takes practice, judgment, and FPV stick time. Public-safety drone programs that train only for automated launch and overhead observation leave a large part of the technology’s value untouched.
Source: WBTV, WSOC-TV, and DJI.
DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.
