Summary
A firefighting super scooper battling the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles collided with a privately-owned DJI drone, causing significant damage and delaying operations.
The FBI is investigating to identify the drone’s owner, as unauthorized drones near wildfires pose risks to firefighting efforts.
Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) are in place, but violations can lead to prosecution, fines, and jail time.
The damaged aircraft, one of only two available, is out of service until Monday.
Deservedly so. No-fly zones exist for a reason and many, many people just don’t care about that stuff. Where I live there’s a lot of them and I regularly see people fly drones there.
I wish they were more strict about fining people here as well, we have an ambulance chopper stationed close by and I don’t even want to imagine it colliding with a drone and crashing in a densely populated neighborhood.