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A man has agreed to plead guilty to unsafely operating a drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft during the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, Federal authorities said Friday.Peter Tripp Akemann reached a plea agreement and will avoid prison but he will pay full restitution for the damage on the plane and do 150 hours of community service in wildfire relief, said acting U.S.attorney Joseph McNally.
The misdemeanor count Akemann faced carries a sentence of up to a year in prison.The collision on Jan.9 caused the firefighting aircraft to be grounded for several days.Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said there was no evidence Akemann intentionally caused the collision.“Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty as a drone pilot will not shield you from criminal charges,” he said.Officials say the plane was owned by the government of Quebec and that Akemann has agreed to pay $65,000 in repair costs to that government and the company that fixed the aircraft.Akemann is scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon.The wind-driven blaze in the upscale Pacific Palisades began on Jan.
7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses, and other structures and killing at least 12 people.The conflagration fueled by dry Santa Ana winds has scorched at least 36 square miles (94 square kilometers) of land.It was 98% contained as of Friday.Authorities say Akemann launched the drone from the top of a parking structure in Santa Monica on Jan.
9 and flew it more than 1.5 miles toward the Palisades Fire before losing site of it.It then crashed with the Super Scooper firefighting plane that was carrying two firefighters.The pilot was able to land the aircraft despite a hole in the left wing caused by the collision with the drone.Drone operations were prohibited in the area at the time due to the firefight.Davis said Los Angeles will host several major events in coming years, including the World Cup, ...