L.A. Man Sentenced to 14 Days in Prison for Accidentally Crashing Drone Into Firefighting Plane

A 57-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 days in prison and 30 days of home detention for flying a hobby drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles back in January.

Peter Tripp Akemann of Culver City pleaded guilty in February to recklessly operating a drone that crashed into a Super Scooper firefighting plane. The aircraft, a Canadair CL-415 known as the Super Scooper Quebec 1, was damaged and grounded when it should’ve been fighting the fires that were raging just north of Los Angeles.

Akemann was charged with one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, a misdemeanor, which potentially carried a term of up to one year in prison. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald sentenced Akemann to serve 14 days in federal prison and a month of home detention, according to a report from the Orange County Register.

The Super Scooper had been repeatedly scooping up 1,600 gallons of ocean water to dump on the Palisades Fire. Temporary flight restrictions had just been put in place on Jan. 9 when the collision happened, causing a roughly 3-inch by 6-inch hole in the left wing.

Video from the time posted to X showed the work being done, scooping water from the Pacific Ocean, and delivering it to the Pacific Palisades.

#Canadian CL-415 Super Scoopers at work in Los Angeles, helping battle the horrendous #LosAngelesWildfires
The Quebec-based aircraft can scoop up 1600 gallons of water in 12 seconds. pic.twitter.com/SXcafJonL6

— Binks (@BinkyBaxter1) January 9, 2025

Akemann drove to Santa Monica and launched his drone from a parking structure. He flew the drone about 1.5 miles toward the fire, according to prosecutors, and told the court he was flying near the fire out of concern for a friend’s home. But he said he lost contact with his drone and didn’t know it collided with a firefighting aircraft until it was reported in the media.

“It was not until I heard on the news that a drone had collided with a firefighting aircraft that I became concerned that it was possibly my drone that had been involved,” Akemann wrote in a letter, according to the Orange County Register.

The Palisades fire burned over 23,000 acres, killed 12 people, and destroyed almost 7,000 structures.

In addition to the brief prison time and home detention, Akemann has been ordered to pay about $156,000 in restitution and fines, according to the Orange County Register. The cost to repair the plane was $65,169. Akemann will also serve 150 hours of community service to support wildfire relief efforts.