AI helps Italian rescue team find missing hiker after 11 months

Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) used artificial intelligence to locate the body of a missing hiker after nearly 11 months, analyzing 2,600 drone images in just one afternoon to spot his helmet among the mountainous terrain. The breakthrough demonstrates how AI-powered search and rescue operations can dramatically reduce recovery times from weeks or months of manual analysis to hours, potentially saving lives in future mountain emergencies.

How it worked: The rescue team deployed drones across a 183-hectare area on the north face of Monviso, Italy’s highest peak in the Cottian Alps, capturing thousands of aerial images from approximately 50 meters above ground.

• AI software analyzed the drone footage and identified “suspicious spots” where pixels differed in color from the surrounding landscape, flagging the victim’s helmet as an anomaly.
• The entire imaging process took five hours with two drones on Tuesday morning, with AI analysis completed the same afternoon—bad weather delayed the physical recovery until Thursday.
• Dr. Nicola Ivaldo’s body was found at 3,150 meters altitude, more than 600 meters below the summit, exactly where the AI had detected the distinctive helmet pixels.

The rescue operation: CNSAS drone pilot Saverio Isola and his colleague Giorgio Viana led the three-day operation that successfully located 64-year-old Ligurian doctor Nicola Ivaldo, who had been missing since September 2024.

• “It was the AI software that identified some pixels of a different color in the images taken on Tuesday,” Isola explained, describing how the technology pinpointed the victim’s location in one of three ravines cutting through the mountain’s north face.
• Rescuers woke at 4 AM to reach a vantage point with clear visibility to the suspected location, using drones to confirm the helmet sighting before coordinating with fire brigade helicopters for body recovery.

Technology evolution: CNSAS has been developing AI-enhanced search capabilities for 18 months as part of a five-year drone program, integrating color and shape recognition technologies in coordination with ENAC, Italy’s national aviation agency.

• The rescue corps is expanding beyond visual analysis to thermal imaging, with AI systems capable of interpreting heat signatures from living beings to locate survivors in real-time.
• “Just like with still images, AI is also able to interpret thermal data and provide valuable information in just a few hours,” Isola noted, citing a recent successful rescue of climbers in Sardinia using similar technology.

The bigger picture: This successful recovery represents a significant advancement in mountain rescue capabilities, where traditional search methods would have required weeks or months of dangerous manual searching across treacherous terrain.

• The technology prevented rescue teams from risking their lives in hazardous conditions, as it did during the Marmolada Glacier tragedy where drones enabled recovery operations in previously inaccessible areas.
• CNSAS aims to use this AI-drone combination proactively to save missing people while they’re still alive, potentially reducing fatal mountain accidents through faster response times.

What they’re saying: “It’s a human achievement, but without technology, it would have been an impossible mission. It’s a team success,” said Isola, emphasizing the collaboration between AI systems and experienced mountain rescue teams.