The California man whose drone took a firefighting aircraft out of service for a week during last January’s Los Angeles wildfires will get two weeks in jail. Peter Tripp Akemann, 57, of Culver City, pleaded guilty to a federal Class-A misdemeanor charge last February and was also given a month’s home detention and ordered to pay the Quebec government, which owns the CL-415 Super Scooper and the shop that fixed it, $156,000 in restitution during sentencing on Monday. He apologized to the court and said he should have realized flying a drone near an active fire was “irresponsible,” according to ABC News.
Akemann said it was part curiosity and part concern for a friend whose home was in the fire zone that prompted him to send his drone into the fire zone. He said he lost contact with the aircraft and when he heard the next day about the damaged plane he thought it might be his. The drone took out the skin and one of the ribs in a wing on the big turboprop, and parts had to be shipped from Canada to open up the wing and fix it. The aircraft, one of several that became a symbol of the fight against the devastating fire in some of California’s most expensive real estate, was out of commission for seven days for the repair process.
Finally. A message sending consequence for these guys.
Now if only he can actually be held responsible for the repair bill. Sending him an invoice is one thing – getting a check is another.
Collections may be a problem for civil matters. But in this case, restitution is part of a federal plea deal – fail to pay and you’re back in the bar-ry place.
According to online chatter, Akeman is in sound financial condition.
I’m hoping the people that lost houses that otherwise may have been spared by this aircraft being operational sue the flying blender operator as well
It would be nice to see this joker tied up in court for years
Its going to be difficult to quantify specifically if and which houses may have been spared by taking one of the scoopers out of the loop. I am 103% certain a whole army of attorneys would love to cash in on this guys stupidity.
For the time being, signal is that screwing around with drones in active catastrophy zones can get expensive and end behind bars.
Especially with those “especially wealthy” people with no concern for a couple hundred thousand dollars, I’d wish for a more stingy form of punishment. Mainstream media should have picked up on it a lot harder. With the current lynch-mob in progress thats a surefire way to create a teachable moment…
As a chopper pilot who has long railed against such “aerial mines” in airspace occupied by human-carrying aircraft, ex-post-facto fines are pitifully cold comfort to the family of the pilot. The fundamental problem is that the drone operators have no skin in the game, while pilots flying legally at low altitudes have ALL their skin in it.
I’m good with all UAS controllers being delivered with C4 fused to preclude repeat offenses.
I agree that the punishment might have been stronger. It is, however, my understanding that once he determined that the drone might have been his, he turned himself in. If so, then in this day and age, it is somewhat refreshing to see someone own up to a bone-headed move. Those of us without sin…