Authorities said Friday that a man from Southern California acknowledged using a drone that struck a firefighting aircraft during the Palisades Fire, which was burning tens of thousands of acres earlier this month.
According to court filings, 56-year-old Peter Tripp Akemann of Culver City consented to enter a guilty plea to one count of operating an unmanned aircraft in a hazardous manner.
On January 9, Akemann walked to the top floor of the Third Street Promenade parking garage, launched his drone, and then lost sight of it before it struck a Super Scooper that was borrowed from Quebec, according to officials.
“Firefighters were working feverishly to save lives and stop the damage that the fires were causing. Firefighting planes that were launching full-scale attacks in the vicinity of the flames were essential to those efforts, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally told reporters on Friday.
Some people were carelessly flying drones near the firefighting relief efforts, which is against the law and common sense.
According to officials, the plane had a 3-by-6-inch hole from the impact. The Super Scooper managed to land safely, but during the peak of firefighting activities, that hole forced it out of commission for a few days.
The accusation against Akemann was finally heard by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon.
After pledging to appear in court at all future dates and to refrain from owning or using a drone, Akemann was freed without having to enter a plea.
He might spend up to a year in prison. However, defense lawyer Vicki Podberesky stated that she does not think her client, who acknowledges his serious mistake of judgment, would face jail time for this misdemeanor.
According to his attorney, the defendant had depended on a “geo-fencing safeguard feature” on the drone that malfunctioned that day.
“We believe that there are mitigating circumstances that would warrant a lenient sentence,” Podberesky stated.
According to California fire officials, the Palisades Fire, which started on the morning of January 7, had burned over 23,000 acres by Friday and was 98% contained.
Flames from the Palisades and Eaton fires, which were located in the Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and Altadena, north of downtown, respectively, swept over the area with horrifyingly fast pace, killing at least 29 people.
During the horrifying week, some of Southern California’s most sought-after beachfront, canyon, and hillside real estate was destroyed.
For firefighters, who frequently lacked water due to the tremendous demand to put out so many flames at once, the twin fires presented once-in-a-lifetime problems.