Two men in their 20s who became lost in Kosciuszko National Park (a large alpine park in New South Wales, Australia) were rescued within five hours after Fire and Rescue NSW deployed an AI-equipped drone with thermal imaging to locate them roughly half a kilometre off the Dead Horse Gap track. The drone's built-in speaker allowed rescuers to communicate with the hikers, while its spotlight guided a ground team to their location; the men suffered only mild exposure and declined medical treatment. Officials say it was the first time the unit's AI detection system had been used in a missing-persons rescue, with the regional duty commander estimating the technology may have shortened what could otherwise have been a multi-day search.