Peter Tripp Akemann has agreed to plead guilty to unsafely operating a drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles.
He will avoid prison as part of the plea deal.
Driving the news: The misdemeanor charge Akemann faced had a potential sentence of up to a year in prison due to the collision causing the firefighting aircraft to be grounded for several days.
- The collision occurred on January 9 when Akemann launched the drone from the top of a parking structure in Santa Monica and flew it over 1.5 miles toward the Palisades Fire before losing sight of it, leading to the collision with the Super Scooper firefighting plane.
- Investigation showed that Akemann, while not having intentionally caused the collision, violated regulations by flying the drone in a restricted area during the firefight.
- The collision resulted in a hole in the left wing of the firefighting aircraft, which was reportedly carrying two firefighters at the time.
- The Palisades Fire, fueled by dry Santa Ana winds, destroyed or damaged nearly 8,000 homes, businesses, and other structures, leading to the evacuation of thousands of people and power outages for tens of thousands.
The big picture: As part of the plea agreement, Akemann has agreed to pay full restitution for the damage caused to the plane and complete 150 hours of community service related to wildfire relief efforts.
