Drone Pilot Who Crashed Into Firefighting Plane Won’t Serve Prison Time: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — The man accused of flying a drone so recklessly that he crashed it into a plane that was battling the Palisades Fire earlier this month won't serve any prison time as part of a plea agreement filed Friday in federal court.

Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, of Culver City, will have to pay $65,169 to cover the costs of repairing the Super Scooper aircraft. He'll also have to complete 150 hours of community service in support of local wildfire relief efforts, according to the plea agreement.

Akemann was expected to make his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Friday and plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft at a future date, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

That offense carries a possible one-year federal prison sentence, but Akemann will not be sentenced to any time behind bars as part of his plea agreement, a spokesman for the office confirmed to Patch.

The drone left a 3-inch-by-6-inch hole in plane's left wing. The plane, which had been scooping water and dropping it on the Palisades Fire, was able to land safely. It was out of commission for several days while repairs were made. Meanwhile, some of the most destructive wildfires in California history continued to burn, according to authorities.

At the time of the collision, the Palisades fire area was under a temporary FAA flight restriction, which prohibited drone flights, prosecutors said.

The damaged Super Scooper is one of just two of its kind in Los Angeles county's fleet.

"At the time, defendant knew that the Palisades Fire was not contained and that various airplanes and possibly helicopters or other aerial assets were flying missions to actively combat the fire," reads the plea agreement.

Court documents detail what happened leading up to Akemann crashing his drone into the plane on Jan. 9, which was two days after the fire broke out — and during a crucial time where firefighters were battling against the ferocious winds and extremely low humidity that led to the fire's explosive growth.

“This damage caused to the Super Scooper is a stark reminder that flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally said in a statement.

That day, Akemann drove to a parking structure near the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and parked his vehicle on the top floor. He then launched the drone and flew it over 1.5 miles away toward the Palisades to observe damage caused by the fire, prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement.

He lost sight of the drone — a DJI Mini 3 Pro — which crashed into the plane. The plane was operating "near the beach line at Pacific Coast Highway and the Santa Monica Pier" at the time, the plea agreement states.

The Super Scooper was carrying two crew members, who were able to land the plane safely, authorities said.

LA County leases the two planes from the government of Quebec. Akemann's $65,169 restitution payment will pay back the province and an aircraft repair company, prosecutors said.