Drone operator to plead guilty in crash that damaged water-dropping plane during Palisades Fire

A Culver City man accused of flying a drone and crashing it into a water-dropping aircraft during the Palisades Fire agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, was expected to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of a unmanned aircraft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said at a morning news conference.

But later in the day, a spokesperson from the office said Akemann, who was not in custody, appeared in court Friday afternoon but did not formally enter the guilty plea.

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

Prosecutors filed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday. They said Akemann admitted in the agreement that he crashed the drone into the Super Scooper aircraft on Jan. 9, causing it to be taken out of commission temporarily as the Palisades Fire raged.

The plane had been sent from Canada.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Akemann agreed to pay restitution to the Quebec government and a company that repaired the aircraft. He also agreed to complete 150 hours of community service “in support of the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief effort."

“[The] damage caused to the Super Scooper is a stark reminder that flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to the personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally in a news release.

His office said Akemann launched the drone from the top of a parking garage at the Santa Monica Promenade and flew it more than 1.5 miles toward the fire in the Pacific Palisades. He then lost sight of it. The Federal Aviation Administration had issued temporary restrictions barring drone operations near the L.A.-area wildfires.

When the drone crashed into the Super Scooper, which was carrying two crewmembers, the impact punched a 3-by-6 inch hole in the plane’s left wing.

McNally said officials learned that the drone belonged to Akemann because a piece of it lodged in the hole in the plane. He would not elaborate on how they connected the piece to Akemann.

The crew landed the plane, and it was taken out of service at the height of the fire fight. The repairs cost more than $65,000, prosecutors said.