The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that a drone struck a fire plane that was flying over the Palisades fire Thursday.
FAA officials said the plane landed safely and the incident will be investigated.
“Obstructing firefighting efforts on public land is a federal crime, punishable by up to 12 months in prison,” the statement said. “Additionally, the FAA may impose civil penalties of up to $75,000 against drone operators who interfere with wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response operations during the temporary flight restrictions.”
“This afternoon we hit a drone, the first one,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone. “Our super scooper collided with a small drone.”
He said the incident occurred at the Palisades Fire on Thursday. He did not provide details about the person operating the drone, but said the drone was destroyed and a super scooper, a large fixed-wing aircraft capable of dropping large amounts of water, was also damaged.
“I got a hole in the wing,” he said. “Currently suspended.”
Marrone said the FBI is now planning to come to the area with what he called “aviation armor” to prevent further drone flights within the fire zone. .
As the world waits to see the full impact of the fires on the Los Angeles landscape, several drone pilots took flight and captured images despite temporary flight restrictions from the FAA.
In a separate statement released Thursday, the FAA warned against flying drones near wildfires. It noted that temporary flight restrictions had been issued for a wide area of airspace covering Los Angeles.
Still, several people posted photos and videos online of what appeared to be drones in the restricted area. Among the first were still images of run-down neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades. Although the photographer has since deleted his photos, they have spread widely on the web and become some of the signature images of the Palisades fire.
The backlash was immediate, with fellow photographers and drone experts flooding the photographer’s other Instagram posts with comments.
“That drone shot is going viral online…what were you thinking??” cinematographer Nathan Furniss wrote on Instagram.
“Please don’t fly your drone near a fire. It’s dangerous enough to do so,” one commenter, a drone enthusiast, wrote. “Greetings, junior operators.”
Scottish photographer Gary Chittick wrote: “Disregarding @faa rules and flying a drone over an active rescue scene is abhorrent.” “It’s embarrassing and flattering to see everyone on social media shouting that. No matter what you delete, the evidence remains.”
A popular thread on the r/drones subreddit included many comments scolding the photographer. The photographer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Drone pilots can apply for exemptions to fly in restricted airspace, but the FAA said no such exemptions had been granted as of Thursday afternoon.
An FAA spokesperson told the Times that after speaking with Los Angeles County Fire Department officials, “Due to the number of manned firefighting aircraft in the airspace, we are unable to accommodate drone flights within the TFR at this time.” I mentioned airspace.
At least one other photographer followed suit as fires continued to burn across the Southland region. An Instagram account named Sikora posted a video that appeared to be taken by a drone of the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills that went viral on Wednesday night. He too was reprimanded by commenters.
Cinematographer Tim Serkis said: “FYI, flying a drone to get ‘epic’ shots near active wildfires is incredibly irresponsible, not to mention a federal crime.” commented. “Drones can interfere with firefighting efforts. If a drone is activated, a firefighting plane cannot fly. As professional licensed drone operators, flights like this give us a bad name and are illegal. It interferes with your ability to fly.”
The photographer also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Turkish state media organization affiliated with Reuters posted a video on Wednesday that appeared to be taken by a drone at the scene of the fire.
As of Thursday, restrictions on drone flights near wildfires in the Los Angeles area have been extended until Jan. 23.
Times staff writer Nathan Fenno contributed to this report.
