Culver City man to plead guilty to crashing drone into Super Scooper fighting the Palisades Fire

A Culver City man has agreed to plead guilty to crashing a drone into a Super Scooper aircraft making water drops over the deadly Palisades Fire, grounding the powerful firefighting aircraft early into the battle against the growing wildfire.

The drone collided into a Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper the Government of Quebec had supplied to Los Angeles firefighters, which was carrying two crewmembers when it was struck on Jan. 9, authorities said. No one was injured but the crash left a hole in the left wing of the aircraft, putting it out of service for "approximately" five days as it was repaired, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally for the Central District of California told reporters Friday. The wildfire grew by another 6,000 acres during that time.

By the end of it, the blaze killed 12 people and damaged and destroyed thousands of structures, including entire neighborhoods of homes, in the coastal community of Pacific Palisades and areas of Malibu.

Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, is suspected of launching the drone from the top floor of a parking structure in Santa Monica and flying it toward the Palisades two days after the fire broke out. At that time, it had already spread to more than 17,000 acres, continuing to spread as powerful winds complicated firefighting efforts and firefighters traveled in from other states and countries to help.

"This defendant recklessly flew an aircraft into airspace where first responders were risking their lives in an attempt to protect lives and property," McNally said in a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

Akemann is expected to plead guilty Friday afternoon to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, according to prosecutors, a misdemeanor charge which carries a prison sentence of up to one year in federal prison.

The Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper can scoop up to 1,620 gallons of water including saltwater — allowing it to pull water from the nearby Pacific Ocean during the Palisades Fire while other firefighting aircraft can typically only pull freshwater.

The Jan. 9 crash left an approximately 3-inch-by-6-inch hope in its left wing, grounding it as the wildfire continued to spread and reached 23,700 acres. Fixing the damage cost at least $65,169, according to prosecutors, who say Akemann has agreed to pay full restitution to the Government of Quebec and an aircraft repair company which made the repairs as part of a plea agreement.

He must also complete 150 hours of community service helping the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief efforts, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Akemann drove to the Third Street Promenade shopping center in Santa Monica and launched the drone from a parking structure so he could observe the damage left by the Palisades Fire. He flew the drone about 1.5 miles toward the wildfire and lost sight of it before it crashed into the Super Scooper, federal officials said.

With the Palisades and Eaton fires both starting just two days before, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued temporary flight restrictions at the time which prohibited flying private drones near where the wildfires were burning. Federal officials said that while investigators have found no evidence Akemann intentionally caused the crash, he is still at fault for the damage caused.

The onus is on the pilot. If firefighters are putting out a fire with aircraft, that should be a clue," said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI Los Angeles field office. "As Cal Fire has said: 'If you fly, we can't' — meaning they cannot use their most sophisticated technique to attack these wildfires."

"Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty as a drone pilot will not shield you from criminal penalties," Davis said.