California Man Pleads Guilty to Crashing Drone into Canadair During Palisades Fire
A Culver City man agreed to plead guilty to recklessly operating a drone that crashed into and damaged a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft fighting the Palisades Fire in January the Justice Department announced.
Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, the former president of Skydance Interactive, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of
unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. This morning federal prosecutors filed a criminal information charging Akemann with the misdemeanor offense that carries a prison sentence of up to one year in federal prison.
In a plea agreement Akemann agreed to plead guilty to the criminal offense and admitted to his reckless and illegal conduct in flying the drone that posed an imminent safety hazard to the Super Scooper crew. As a result of the drone collision, the firefighting aircraft was taken out of service for a period of time and was not able to continue its firefighting mission. As part of the plea agreement, Akemann agreed to pay full restitution to the Government of Quebec, which supplied the plane, and an aircraft repair company that repaired the plane. Akemann also agreed to complete 150 hours of community service in support of the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief effort.
By pleading guilty he possibly escapes a year in prison. But it is possible that the US District Court will not accept Akemann’s plea agreement, which his lawyers are making jointly with the US Attorney’s Office, in which case he faces a year of prison time, a year of supervised release, and either up to a $100,000 fine or “twice the gross loss resulting from the offense,” whichever is greater.
Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally.
“Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty as a drone pilot will not shield you from criminal charges,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Please respect the law, respect the FAA’s rules and respect our firefighters and the residents they are protecting by keeping your drone at home during wildfires.”
Akemann is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the plea agreement, while the wildfire was burning in and around Pacific Palisades on January 9, Akemann drove to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and parked his vehicle on the top floor of the parking structure. He then launched a drone and flew it towards Pacific Palisades to observe damage caused by the Palisades Fire.
Akemann flew the drone, a DJI Mini 3 Pro, at least 2,500 meters (more than 1.5 miles) toward the fire and lost sight of the drone. As Akemann was flying the drone, it collided with a Government of Quebec Super Scooper carrying two crewmembers attempting to fight the blaze. The impact caused an approximately 3-inch-by-6-inch hole in the left wing. After landing, maintenance personnel identified the damage and took the aircraft out of service for repairs.
At the time of the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued temporary flight restrictions that prohibited drone operations near the Los Angeles County wildfires that erupted earlier this month.
As a result of the collision, the Government of Quebec and an aircraft repair company incurred costs of at least $65,169 to repair the plane.
The FBI investigated this matter. The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Los Angeles Fire Department, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) provided substantial assistance.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kedar S. Bhatia and Ian V. Yanniello of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.
Akemann, a graduate of the University of California San Diego who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley, co-founded the video game developer Treyarch (which worked on Spider-Man and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, among other titles) and The Workshop Entertainment (behind Sorcery and Borderlands 2: Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage). He joined Skydance in 2016 after the entertainment company acquired The Workshop and launched an interactive division that has since produced titles like Skydance’s Behemoth and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.Top Photo: Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T.McNally at a news conference to discuss court filings re Palisades Fire investigation outside the U.S Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Friday January 31 , 2025 AP Photo - Damian Dovarganes
Sources: The Verge; The Hollywood Reporter; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
