French hospital helicopter landings disrupted by illegal prison delivery drones

Civil Security and rescue helicopters have stopped landing at night at Hautepierre hospital in Strasbourg due to the risk of collision with drones bound for the Elsau detention centre, 4 kilometres away.

For three weeks, emergency helicopters have been forced to divert to the helipad at the Nouvel Hôpital Civil in the city centre, resulting in a 30 to 40-minute delay in patient transport, hospital officials said. 

"In cases of hemorrhage, 30 minutes can make a difference," Professor Julien Pottecher, head of the anaesthesia and intensive care department at Hautepierre Hospital, told French news agency AFP.

Each year, between 320 and 330 patients are transported by helicopter to Hautepierre from across the Grand Est region – and even from Germany or Luxembourg – with around 40 of these transfers taking place at night.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that, among these cases, there are patients for whom this additional 30 to 40-minute delay poses a risk – whether to life or function, or resulting in a longer recovery period or the need for more intensive or prolonged treatment," Pottecher noted.

Since the night landings were suspended, two patients have had to be transported to Hautepierre by ambulance after landing at the Civil Hospital – "fortunately" without serious consequences for their health, he added. 

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Drug deliveries

Since April, 19 drones have been sighted at night over the hospital's helipad, prompting the facility to file formal complaints, said Jérôme Coulon, head of security at Strasbourg University Hospitals.

A meeting on the issue is scheduled for this week at the prefecture, he said, adding: "We need to find solutions quickly, and we will find them quickly."

As is the case elsewhere in France, prison inmates in Strasbourg are having drugs and mobile phones delivered to them at night via drone, with almost 5,000 drone overflight attempts recorded nationwide in 2025.

Two people were convicted in Strasbourg on Tuesday for their involvement in a delivery made from a street located between the hospital and the prison.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Prison Administration noted that more than 70 of the country's 186 correctional facilities are equipped with electronic anti-drone systems – including the Elsau prison, which installed such a system in July 2025 at a cost of €350,000.

"As part of the Zero Cellphones in Prison plan launched in November 2025 by Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, €1.05 million was immediately allocated to bolster measures to combat drones," the statement said.

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However, legislation prohibits prison guards from using this electronic equipment "to its full capacity" – such as by forcing the device to land at a specific location where it could be retrieved – Ghislain Karleskind, the facility's SPS union representative, explained to AFP.

Guards, who can use this system to pinpoint the remote pilot's location, must limit themselves to alerting the police to the pilot's whereabouts.

Police intervene if they are able to, Karleskind said. "Otherwise, we observe from the watchtowers, note which cells receive deliveries, and conduct a search the following day."

Nets are due to be installed over cell windows at the Elsau prison by the end of the year to block incoming drones, he added – at an "exorbitant" cost. 

(with AFP)