A 56-year-old man from Culver City, California, admitted to operating a drone that collided with a firefighting airplane during the Palisades Fire, causing a 3-by-6-inch hole in the plane. The collision knocked the Super Scooper out of service for several days during critical firefighting efforts. The man, Peter Tripp Akemann, agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. Despite facing a potential year behind bars, his defense attorney believes that mitigating circumstances warrant a lenient sentence. Akemann relied on a “geo-fencing safeguard feature” on the drone that failed on the day of the collision. The Palisades Fire, which had torched over 23,000 acres by Friday, was 98% contained. The fires in the Palisades neighborhood of L.A. and in Altadena resulted in at least 29 fatalities and caused widespread destruction of Southern California’s desirable real estate. Firefighters faced extreme challenges as they tried to contain the fires with limited water resources due to the high demand. Akemann appeared before a federal judge and was released on the condition that he wouldn’t own or operate a drone in the future. The collision highlights the dangers that reckless drone operation poses during critical firefighting efforts.
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Man confesses to operating drone that collided with Super Scooper during Palisades Fire
