Drone Collision Damages and Grounds Firefighting Aircraft Battling Los Angeles Wildfires

One of the two “Super Scooper” planes being used to help extinguish the out-of-control widespread wildfires burning across Los Angeles was grounded after colliding with a drone.The Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft, named “Quebec 1,” was struck by the unmanned aircraft in the early afternoon on Thursday as it attempted to dump large amounts of water over the Palisades Fire, according to the Los Angeles Times.“We hit a drone this afternoon — first one,” the chief of the Los Angeles County fire department, Anthony Marrone, said. “Our Super Scooper hit a small drone.”The “Quebec 1” was able to land safely but will be out of commission for now.“It put a hole in the wing,” Chief Marrone said. “It’s grounded now.” Mr. Marrone says that the FBI will come to the region with “aerial armor” — a drone detection system — to prevent similar incidents.It is unknown who was piloting the drone, which was destroyed in the collision.The special fire fighting planes are retrofitted with large tanks to skim across large bodies of water to scoop it up before dropping it across swaths of fire. The “Quebec 1” was being used with several other aircraft.In a statement provided to the newspaper, FAA officials said that the incident is being investigated and that they may pursue legal action since the drone was in the air during temporary flight restrictions.“It’s a federal crime, punishable by up to 12 months in prison, to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands,” reads the statement. “Additionally, the FAA can impose a civil penalty of up to $75,000 against any drone pilot who interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response operations.”Despite the FAA not receiving applications for special waivers to pilot drones in restricted airspace, photographers have been launching unmanned aircraft to capture footage of the wildfires.An Instagram account named Sikoralife posted drone shots as the sunset fire broke out, and commenters instantly called the pilot out.“FYI, this is incredibly irresponsible to be flying your drone for ‘epic’ shots near a working wildfire, not to mention a federal crime,” cinematographer Tim Sarquis wrote in a comment on the post.“If your drone is up, firefighting aircraft can’t fly,” he said. “As a professional, licensed drone op, it’s flights like this that give us a bad name and hamper our ability to fly legitimately.”

Drone Collision Damages and Grounds Firefighting Aircraft Battling Los Angeles Wildfires

Drone Collision Damages and Grounds Firefighting Aircraft Battling Los Angeles Wildfires

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