'Super Scooper' Grounded after Drone Strike over CA Wildfires
Los Angeles Times
(TNS)
LOS ANGELES — A drone collided with a firefighting aircraft flying over the Palisades fire on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The aircraft landed safely and the incident will be investigated, an FAA official said.
“It’s a federal crime, punishable by up to 12 months in prison, to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands,” the statement said. “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” during a temporary flight restriction.
“We hit a drone this afternoon — first one,” said L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. “Our Super Scooper hit a small drone.”
He said the incident occurred over the Palisades fire Thursday. He didn’t have details on who was flying the drone, but said the drone was destroyed and the Super Scooper — a massive fixed-wing plane that can drop large amounts of water — was damaged.
“It put a hole in the wing,” he said. “It’s grounded now.”
Marrone said the FBI is now planning to come to the area with what he called “aerial armor” to make sure no further drones can fly in the firefighting area.
As the world waits to see the full impact of fires on the Los Angeles landscape, several drone pilots have flown to capture images despite a temporary flight restriction issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.
In a separate statement released Thursday, the FAA warned against flying drones near the wildfires. They pointed to a temporary flight restriction (TFR) issued for wide swaths of airspace blanketing Los Angeles.
Still, several people posted what appeared to be drone photos and videos of the restricted areas online. Among the first were still images of a devastated neighborhood in Pacific Palisades. The photographer has since taken his photos down, but they spread far and wide on the web, becoming some of the signature images of the Palisades fire.
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The backlash was swift: fellow photographers and drone experts flooded the photographer’s other Instagram posts with comments.
“Bro that drone shot is going viral…what were you thinking??” wrote cinematographer Nathan Furniss on Instagram.
“Please don’t fly your drone around active fires, it’s dangerous enough as is,” wrote a drone enthusiast commenter. “regards, all low level operators.”
“Abhorrent to be flouting @faa rules and flying a drone over an active rescue site,” wrote Gary Chittick, a photographer from Scotland. “Shameful and good to see everyone across social media calling it out. No matter what you delete, the evidence is there.”
A popular thread on the r/drones subreddit included dozens of comments chiding the photographer. The photgrapher did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Drone pilots can apply for waivers to fly in said airspace, but FAA said no such waivers had been granted as of Thursday afternoon.
An FAA spokesperson told the Times that they spoke with Los Angeles County Fire Department officials, and “due to the number of manned firefighting aircraft in the airspace they are currently not able to accommodate drone flights within the TFR,” referencing the restricted airspace.
As the fires across the Southland, at least one other photographer followed suit. An Instagram account named Sikora posted a viral video of apparent drone footage of the Sunset fire in the Hollywood hills Wednesday night. He, too, was chided by commenters.
“FYI, this is incredibly irresponsible to be flying your drone for ‘epic’ shots near a working wildfire, not to mention a federal crime,” commented cinematographer Tim Sarquis. “Your drone can hamper firefighting efforts. If your drone is up, firefighting aircraft can’t fly. As a professional, licensed drone op, it’s flights like this that give us a bad name and hamper our ability to fly legitimately.”
That photographer also did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Lastly, a Turkish state media organization that partners with Reuters, also posted apparent drone videos in the fire zones on Wednesday.
As of Thursday, drone flight restrictions near the wildfires in Los Angeles had been extended until Jan. 23. The penalties for violating the flight restrictions can be steep.
“Any drone pilot who recklessly interferes with firefighting or other emergency response operations can face civil penalties from the FAA of up to $20,000 per violation,” said Ian Gregor, a spokesperson for the agency.
The Los Angeles Fire Department did not have information about drones potentially interfering with firefighting efforts. The Los Angeles County Fire Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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