“Lucky to be alive”: Quick-thinking System Inspections teams rescue kayaker stranded at sea during routine inspection

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

No matter what field you work in or how experienced you are, preparing for even the most unexpected risks is a key element of planning for operational success and, more importantly, ensuring the safety of your team and others.

Crews with PG&E and drone-based inspection company Cyberhawk recently experienced the importance of preparedness firsthand during a routine inspection of bridges and PG&E electric towers near Redwood City in the San Francisco Bay.

While inspectors looked at PG&E's assets by airboat around Bair Island, the team came across a kayaker who had become stranded two miles out to sea. The team quickly saw that the kayaker was in crisis and needed help.

Despite being an experienced kayaker who was familiar with the area from regular trips out on the bay, the man became disoriented after a rapid change in weather conditions.

After spotting the man in distress, the Cyberhawk and PG&E teams aboard the airboat rescued him. They transported him, with his kayak, back to shore, where emergency services personnel were waiting to assess his health and take him for a checkup at the local hospital. The man fully recovered.

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Andy Montes, a Fremont-based PG&E supervisor in transmission maintenance and construction, said his team focuses each day on how to serve local communities.

"We look at all of the work we do every day through the lens of safety," Andy said. "On a typical day, that means getting eyes on our electric equipment to look for issues that might affect the safety and reliability of our system. On that day, it also meant unexpectedly jumping in to help someone who was struggling in a dangerous situation. We're proud of the quick thinking and the flexibility our inspection crews bring to the job day in and day out."

Cyberhawk Senior Drone Pilot Ian Gilchrist, who was part of the rescue team, said: "The chilly weather conditions meant that by the time we found the stranded kayaker, he had become freezing and disoriented. He was lost at sea for several hours at that point and had understandably become very panicked. Our team had to think on their feet and react fast to get the man to safety as quickly as possible. We managed to get him into our boat and back on land in under 15 minutes. He's lucky to be alive."

The incident highlighted the importance of being prepared and assessing risk before beginning any job.

Crews with both companies recognize that working in remote, challenging environments, often in difficult terrain or in extreme weather conditions, can bring risks that pose a severe threat to life.

That's why PG&E's inspection teams begin each day with a safety tailboard, and crews are encouraged daily to speak up if they see conditions that pose potential safety issues while they work.

And Cyberhawk has "built an exceptionally robust, high-quality training program, refined over a decade of experience, creating highly capable, self-reliant and resilient field teams," Ian said, noting that teams carry out risk assessments and pack extra supplies each day before they set foot in the field. "This ensures that inspectors have the skills and know-how to work safely in all high-risk situations, regardless of location."

For the kayaker in the bay on a chilly day, that preparedness proved lifesaving.

If you’re interested in finding out how Cyberhawk can support your project

download your free power grid capabilities overview pack now!