Dominic Patten
DEADLINE
Fri, January 31, 2025
Peter Akemann, the former president of Skydance Interactive who was the owner and pilot of a drone that damaged and temporarily grounded a Canadian Super Scooper during some of the most destructive days of the Los Angeles wildfires, has escaped a prison sentence.
In fact, thanks to a plea deal with the feds and an apparent software glitch, Akemann won’t serve a single day in prison for “recklessly” flying his DJI Mini 3 Pro into the wing of the Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper on January 9, Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally said Friday.
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Appearing in court in downtown LA this afternoon on a criminal misdemeanor and one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, the 56-year-old Akemann soon afterwards walked out the door on a $15,000 bond. He will formally enter a guilty plea at an unspecified date.
Outside the federal courthouse, McNally said that Akemann acknowledged his “conduct posed an imminent threat to firefighting crews.”
Despite the loss of a pivotal aircraft for five days in the battle against the Palisades Fire that devastated most of the upmarket neighborhood and the risk the so-called illegal drone posed to the two-member crew of the Quebec-based plane, the former video game exec will only have to fork out a bit more than $65,000 to the Canadian province to cover plane repairs.
According to the Department of Justice, the Culver City-based Akemann will also have to “complete 150 hours of community service in support of the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief effort” – whatever that means now that the hurricane-force winds and fires have subsided.
“As this case demonstrates, we will track down drone operators who violate the law and interfere with the critical work of our first responders,” McNally said Friday.
Maybe, but some want a bit more than merely tracking down such individuals.
“This is not justice,” one industry Palisades resident who suffered greatly during the fires told Deadline today after news of Akemann’s plea deal went public. “I’m not saying it would have, but that plane could have maybe saved homes and businesses if it hadn’t been damaged.”
The Super Scooper accident was widely covered on local and national media during the fires, with shock outside Southern California that private drones were even allowed in firefighting zones at the time.
The probe to find Akemann was led by the FBI. With Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kedar S. Bhatia and Ian V. Yanniello of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section in the prosecuting seat, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the FAA, the LAFD, and CalFire also aided in the investigation, the feds said Friday.
Akemann, who worked at the David Ellison-run Skydance from 2016 until around 2022, apparently took his drone to the top of a parking lot at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on January 9 as the fires raged. Prosecutors say his intent was to get some footage of the blazes, but Akemann lost sight and control of the DJI Mini 3 Pro after it had flown about 1.5 miles away. It was then that the drone collided with the Super Scooper, opening a 3- by 6-inch hole in the left wing. The damage took the vitally needed plane out of commission.
The Canadian Super Scooper that collided with an illegal drone at a maintenance hangar at Van Nuys Airport
Emphasizing that their client is “deeply sorry” and “accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment,” Akemann’s lawyers Glen T. Jonas and Vicki Podberesky said today that the loss of control was based in part on the failure of the drone’s “geofencing safeguard feature.”
On January 13, four days after the crash, the drone company DJI Viewpoints brought out an update for its products.
“With this update, DJI’s Fly and Pilot flight app operators will see prior DJI geofencing datasets replaced to display official Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data,” according to the company. “Areas previously defined as Restricted Zones (also known as No-Fly Zones) will be displayed as Enhanced Warning Zones, aligning with the FAA’s designated areas. In these zones, in-app alerts will notify operators flying near FAA designated controlled airspace, placing control back in the hands of the drone operators, in line with regulatory principles of the operator bearing final responsibility.”
Man agrees to plead guilty for flying drone that damaged firefighting aircraft in LA wildfire
Fri, January 31, 2025
Peter Akemann, the former president of Skydance Interactive who was the owner and pilot of a drone that damaged and temporarily grounded a Canadian Super Scooper during some of the most destructive days of the Los Angeles wildfires, has escaped a prison sentence.
In fact, thanks to a plea deal with the feds and an apparent software glitch, Akemann won’t serve a single day in prison for “recklessly” flying his DJI Mini 3 Pro into the wing of the Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper on January 9, Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally said Friday.
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Appearing in court in downtown LA this afternoon on a criminal misdemeanor and one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, the 56-year-old Akemann soon afterwards walked out the door on a $15,000 bond. He will formally enter a guilty plea at an unspecified date.
Outside the federal courthouse, McNally said that Akemann acknowledged his “conduct posed an imminent threat to firefighting crews.”
Despite the loss of a pivotal aircraft for five days in the battle against the Palisades Fire that devastated most of the upmarket neighborhood and the risk the so-called illegal drone posed to the two-member crew of the Quebec-based plane, the former video game exec will only have to fork out a bit more than $65,000 to the Canadian province to cover plane repairs.
According to the Department of Justice, the Culver City-based Akemann will also have to “complete 150 hours of community service in support of the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief effort” – whatever that means now that the hurricane-force winds and fires have subsided.
“As this case demonstrates, we will track down drone operators who violate the law and interfere with the critical work of our first responders,” McNally said Friday.
Maybe, but some want a bit more than merely tracking down such individuals.
“This is not justice,” one industry Palisades resident who suffered greatly during the fires told Deadline today after news of Akemann’s plea deal went public. “I’m not saying it would have, but that plane could have maybe saved homes and businesses if it hadn’t been damaged.”
The Super Scooper accident was widely covered on local and national media during the fires, with shock outside Southern California that private drones were even allowed in firefighting zones at the time.
The probe to find Akemann was led by the FBI. With Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kedar S. Bhatia and Ian V. Yanniello of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section in the prosecuting seat, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the FAA, the LAFD, and CalFire also aided in the investigation, the feds said Friday.
Akemann, who worked at the David Ellison-run Skydance from 2016 until around 2022, apparently took his drone to the top of a parking lot at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on January 9 as the fires raged. Prosecutors say his intent was to get some footage of the blazes, but Akemann lost sight and control of the DJI Mini 3 Pro after it had flown about 1.5 miles away. It was then that the drone collided with the Super Scooper, opening a 3- by 6-inch hole in the left wing. The damage took the vitally needed plane out of commission.
The Canadian Super Scooper that collided with an illegal drone at a maintenance hangar at Van Nuys Airport
Emphasizing that their client is “deeply sorry” and “accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment,” Akemann’s lawyers Glen T. Jonas and Vicki Podberesky said today that the loss of control was based in part on the failure of the drone’s “geofencing safeguard feature.”
On January 13, four days after the crash, the drone company DJI Viewpoints brought out an update for its products.
“With this update, DJI’s Fly and Pilot flight app operators will see prior DJI geofencing datasets replaced to display official Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data,” according to the company. “Areas previously defined as Restricted Zones (also known as No-Fly Zones) will be displayed as Enhanced Warning Zones, aligning with the FAA’s designated areas. In these zones, in-app alerts will notify operators flying near FAA designated controlled airspace, placing control back in the hands of the drone operators, in line with regulatory principles of the operator bearing final responsibility.”
Man agrees to plead guilty for flying drone that damaged firefighting aircraft in LA wildfire
Jaimie Ding And Olga R. Rodriguez
Fri, January 31, 2025
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot of a drone that crashed into a firefighting plane, leaving a gaping hole and grounding the aircraft during the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of unsafely operating a drone, federal authorities said Friday.
Peter Tripp Akemann faces up to one year in prison, and a judge will determine his sentence, acting U.S. attorney Joseph McNally said. As part of the plea agreement, he will have to complete 150 hours of wildfire-related community service and pay $65,000 in restitution for the damage to the plane, McNally said.
Akemann appeared in court Friday and will remain out of jail under court supervision during his case. He has not yet entered his plea.
Authorities say Akemann launched the drone from the top of a parking structure in Santa Monica on Jan. 9 and flew it more than 1.5 miles toward the Palisades Fire before losing sight of it. It then crashed with the Super Scooper that was carrying two firefighters. The planes can scoop 1,500 gallons (6,000 liters) of water in just seconds.
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The wind-driven blaze in the upscale Pacific Palisades began Jan. 7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing at least 12 people. Drone operations were prohibited in the area at the time due to the firefight. The conflagration was fueled by dry Santa Ana winds and has scorched at least 36 square miles (94 square kilometers) of land. It was 98% contained as of Friday.
In a statement handed out to the media, defense attorney Glen Jonas said Akemann was “deeply sorry for the mistake he made" and “accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment.”
Federal authorities emphasized Friday it was the responsibility of drone owners to know the rules, and there would be consequences for breaking them, especially as Los Angeles gears up to host several major events in coming years, including the World Cup, the Super Bowl and the Olympics.
“The FAA has very strict guidelines about registering drones and where drones can be flown. The onus is on the pilot, if firefighters are putting out a fire with aircraft that should be a clue,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
The Super Scooper, which was owned by the government of Quebec, was grounded for several days. The pilot was able to land the aircraft despite a hole in the left wing caused by the collision with the drone.
Davis said there was no evidence Akemann intentionally caused the collision.
“Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty as a drone pilot will not shield you from criminal charges,” he said.
The fire in the hilly Los Angeles neighborhood, home to Hollywood stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal who lost houses in the fire, forced thousands of people from their homes, and knocked out power to tens of thousands.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire. Officials have placed the origin of blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo.
Another wind-whipped fire that started the same day in Altadena, a community about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Pacific Palisades, killed at least 17 people and destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 homes and other buildings.
The Santa Ana winds have turned seasonal wildfires into infernos that have leveled neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
___
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. ___ This story has been updated to reflect that AP incorrectly reported that acting U.S. attorney Joseph McNally said Akemann will avoid prison time. McNally said Akemann faces up to a year in prison and a federal judge will determine his sentence.
Jaimie Ding And Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press
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