Drone delayed air ambulance at motor-vehicle accident near Ste. Anne earlier this month

An air ambulance was unable to land immediately at the site of afatal motor-vehicle collision in the rural municipality of Ste. Anne earlier this month due to a drone.

RCMP have not yet identified the drone's operator but want to remind the public that operating a drone in an area where emergency crews are working could potentially interfere with life-saving measures, according to a Monday news release.

Cpl. Ryan Cadotte, the remotely piloted aircraft system program manager for the RCMP in Winnipeg,said the delay in landing was due to a drone.

"Someone observed a drone flying over top of the emergency scene and therefore had to delay the STARS air ambulance until the drone left," Cadotte said.

Theaccident resulted in the death of a 42-year-old Winnipeg on the evening of Sept. 3 but police say the air ambulancedelay did not cause anyserious consequences whenresponding to the accident, RCMP said in the release.

Cadotte reminds the public that serious outcomes could occur if drones are operated near crash sites.

"If the air ambulance is being called in it's because [the] ambulance has determined that they need to get them help right away," Cadottesaid. "Interfering with that unfortunatelycould potentially mean the life or death of the patient they're attempting to treat or save."

Drone useis regulated by Transport Canada under the Canadian Aviation Regulations where operators are expected to abide by several rules while flying a drone, including obtaining a drone licence andkeeping a far distance fromemergency operations.

Cadottereminds people operating drones that violating drone regulationscan result in fines and charges.

"Understand that the rules and regulations are in place for everyone's safelynot just aircraft but for people on the ground," he said.

Fines for infractions vary. For individuals, they go up to $1,000 for not following regulations and up to $3,000 for putting aircraft and people at risk. For corporations, they goup to $5,000 for not following the rules or up to $15,000 for putting aircraft or people at risk.