Saskatoon-made drone flies into Smithsonian collection

It's an exciting time for a local technology company.

A drone aircraft built by Saskatoon's Draganfly Innovations has been added to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's collection.

"It's a huge honour," said company founder Zenon Dragan. "This is the most prestigous aviation museum in the world, and they only have a couple hundred aircraft in their collection."

Last year, the drone was used by RCMP to locate a man who had wandered away from a car accident near St. Denis.

The RCMP Corporal who was operating the drone says it's exciting that a piece of equipment made and used in Saskatchewan is holding a place of honour.

He says the drone was very helpful in finding the missing man.

"If we hadn't found the drone, it possibly would have been another two to three hours before we would have found the injured driver, " said Cpl. Doug Green. "And the outcome wouldn't have been as nice as it is."

As a member of the RCMP's Forensic Reconstruction Unit, Green says drones are becoming very helpful in determining how a car accident took place.

"We haven't had many get into the court system yet, but we do have some that are probably coming where it's going to provide a better view of the incident to either judge or jury," he said.

This is the first small civilian drone aircraft that has been added to the museum's collection.