A Schiebel Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicle was used between March and September last year by the Three Tis Group to monitor river pollution in Malaysia, following an emergency situation where toxic pollutants were illegally released into the Kim Kim River, in the Johor area. According to Vienna, Austria-based Schiebel (Chalet G88), it affected more than 6,000 people, many of whom were hospitalized. The S-100 was equipped with a FLIR Systems Star Safire 380-HDc for multi-spectral imaging.
The response operation was initiated by the Malaysia Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), which collaborated with the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF). The first step was a monitoring task to assess to what extent the pollution had spread, with the Camcopter flying day and night for a total of around 30 hours. “The Camcopter S-100 is perfectly suited for emergency response in crisis situations,” said Three Tis Group managing director, Tunku Ahmad Zahir Bin Tunku Ibrahim.
Schiebel said the Camcopter can fly out to a radius of around 200km (108 nm) even in adverse weather conditions. It has a carbon fiber and titanium fuselage and can carry a wide range of payloads up to a service ceiling of 5,500m (18,000 feet). Typically, said Schiebel, it can carry a 34 kg (75 pounds) payload for up to 10 hours, being powered by either Avgas or JP-5 heavy fuel. Along with its Vienna headquarters, Schiebel has production facilities at Wiener Neustadt in Austria and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and offices in Washington, D.C. and Shoalhaven, Australia.