Drone operator will declare themselves guilty in a crash that damaged the water plane during Palisades fire

A man from the city of Culver accused of flying a drone and crashing him in a water plane during the Palisades fire agreed to declare himself guilty of a minor crime, federal tax prosecutors announced on Friday.

Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, was expected to declare himself guilty of an unsafe charge of an unmanned plane, said the United States prosecutor’s office at a morning press conference.

But later in the day, an office spokesman said that Akemann, who was not in custody, appeared before the court on Friday afternoon, but the statement of guilt was not formally presented.

It is expected to do so in court at a later date.

Prosecutors filed a guilt in the United States District Court in Los Angeles on Friday. They said that Akemann admitted in the agreement that The drone crashed on the Super Scooper plane on January 9causing the commission to be removed temporarily as Palisades’ fire unleashed.

The plane had been sent from Canada.

According to the United States prosecutor’s office, Akemann agreed to pay the restitution to the Quebec government and a company that repaired the plane. He also agreed to complete 150 hours of community service “in support of the relief effort of forest fires in southern California 2025”.

“(The) damage caused to the Super Scooper is a marked reminder that flying drones in times of emergency represents an extreme threat to personnel who try to help people and compromises the general capacity of the police and the fire to carry out operations “The United States lawyer Joseph McNally said in a press release.

His office said Akemann launched the drone from the top of a parking lot on the Paseo Marítimo de Santa Monica and flew more than 1.5 miles to the fire in the Pacific Palisades. Then he lost sight of him. The Federal Aviation Administration had issued temporary restrictions that occurred drone operations near the forest fires of the area.

When the drone crashed into the Super Scooper, which took two crew members, the impact hit a 3 by 6 -inch hole in the left wing of the plane.

McNally said the officials learned that the drone belonged to Akemann because a piece was staying in the hole on the plane. He did not elaborate how they connected the piece with Akemann.

The crew landed the plane and was taken from service at the fire fight. Repairs cost more than $ 65,000, prosecutors said.