Oregon man stranded in snow without cell phone service uses drone to call for help

An Oregon man employed some creative thinking by attaching his phone to a drone to get cell service after becoming stranded on a snowy road in Willamette National Forest, authorities said on Facebook.

The motorist was trying to travel across a remote road in the forest when his vehicle, which was not equipped for snowy conditions, got stuck, the Lane County Sheriff's Search and Rescue said. He soon realized he did not have any cell service and couldn't call for help, the office said.

Authorities said the man "made several smart decisions" that helped save his life — the most innovative being the idea to attach his cell phone to a drone he had with him. He then wrote a text to a friend detailing the situation and his location, hit send and then launched the drone several hundred feet into the sky, the sheriff's office said.