Drone Pilot Who Flew Into Firefighting Airplane Attempts to Avoid Prison

by | Feb 4, 2025 | PetaPixel

Image: Depositphotos

Cross-posted from petapixel.com [by Matt Growcoot]

The co-founder of an influential video game company has pled guilty to flying his drone into a firefighting aircraft operating above the Los Angeles wildfires last month.

Peter Tripp Akemann admitted to flying his DJI Mini 3 Pro drone into a Super Scooper water dumping plane that was actively fighting the Pacific Palisades fire near Santa Monica.

In a court hearing on Friday, Akemann pled guilty in a bid to avoid prison and receive 150 hours of community service instead. He has also offered to pay for the repairs of the plane which is at least $65,000.

Read more

Categories