New MSP drone will improve crash reconstruction

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mass State Police tested out their new drone at Gillette Stadium Friday, a tool which will greatly increase the speed of crash investigation.

During the test Friday, the drone captured a mock crash to help investigators figure out exactly what happened.

The new drone runs about $5,000 and will be piloted by a state trooper right from crash scenes.

"It's going to go up and fly a grid and it's going to take photographs and then it's going to land,” said Lt. Andrew Klane.

Once on the ground, investigators will use the video and photos to create multi-dimensional maps of the wreckage and scene.

“If we did this traditionally. The time at the scene would be two to three hours to map it. Not to do the entire investigation. This will bring the mapping time down to 5-10 minutes,” said Klane.

The new tool will cut down on traffic and secondary crashes that often happen when roads and lanes are closed. The state is already looking at more rugged drones for other uses, including search and rescue.

There is no plan to use them to do surveillance from a distance. FAA rules say they have to be flown in line of sight, so troopers said it's not a great surveillance tool.

State Police plan to start using the drones for crash investigations right away.

Cox Media Group