Albuquerque teen uses drone skills to help search for lost dog after crash

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 17-year-old student at the Albuquerque Aviation Academy used his drone training to help search for a dog that had been hit by a car and gone missing for several hours.

Earlier this month, Kendall Warner said her dog, Jettsen, ran away from home in Albuquerque. A woman later told Warner she had hit the dog with her vehicle.

“It was pretty sad. I heard from the the lady that hit him directly. So and she was very frantic, but it was it was kind of shocking. Like she said, “Oh, I hit your dog,” and I’m like, “You what? Like you you know?” I didn’t know like how to react,” Warner said.

Warner said Jettsen remained missing as community members joined the search effort.

“It took a while to find Jet. It took it was around four to five hours where we were looking for the dog,” Aiden Buckner said.

Buckner, 17, attends Albuquerque Aviation Academy. He said an English language arts teacher, Mr. Pierce, witnessed the crash while on lunch duty and later told him what had happened.

“We have an ELA teacher. His name is mr. Pierce. He was out on on lunch duty and he saw the the accident occur and he was driving through the neighborhood, seeing if he could see the dog, and he he dropped by and told me kind of what was going on,” Buckner said.

Buckner said he had just returned from a flight lesson when he decided to put his drone training to use.

“I had just gotten home from a flight lesson. So I decided, well, I have a drone’s license and I know where to get a drone. So I ran over the school real quick, asked the people at the front desk if I could come in and borrow a drone here, and went out to go look for the dog,” Buckner said.

Warner said she was grateful Buckner stepped in to help as people searched neighborhoods and arroyos for Jettsen.

“We feel so lucky and grateful. Like first and foremost, to Aidan, he dropped everything he was doing,” Warner said.

Jettsen eventually returned home on his own. Warner said the dog suffered cuts, abrasions and soreness from the collision, and some of the wounds later became infected.

“He had a bunch of like lacerations and kind of like road rash, and most of it was kind of under his belly. That ended up getting infected just because it’s road rash and you know germs, things like that.” Warner said, “Initially, when we found him, he was really sore, which you know wouldn’t we all be? So he was really sore, couldn’t move in like all the positions. He had trouble like sitting down. I think just because it was his hips were hurting and you know his body was hurting.”

Warner said Jettsen is expected to recover. She also urged drivers in the Irving area to slow down and remain alert because the neighborhood is home to families, children and pets and is located near a school.

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