Jetpack Rescue: Paramedic Flies To Top Of Mountain In 3 Minutes

June 1, 2022

A British aeronautical innovation company is helping first responders get to difficult locations in record time.

jet suit mountain rescue
Gravity Industries

In a recent video by Gravity Industries, a paramedic scaled a mountain in under 4 minutes using one of their jet suits.

After just six days training, Jamie Walsh, a paramedic for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), flew to the top of Helvellyn. It took him only 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

The journey would take around 1 hour 20 minutes on foot. The poor visibility would have grounded a helicopter.

"We can get a trained professional very quickly to the side of a casualty in very difficult weather or very difficult physical terrain in a way that often [rescuers] on foot, or a vehicle or a helicopter can't do," said Richard Browning, founder and chief test pilot at Gravity Industries.

Gravity Industries plans to test the suits in a variety of other rescue scenarios, including avalanches.

How does a jet suit work?

Gravity's 1,000 horsepower jet suits work with thrusters on the pilot's back and two small jet engines on each arm forming a stable tripod shape of power.

Browning says, after several years of development, the suits no longer require a large amount of upper body strength.

Watch the video below.