Summary
A drone collision grounded one of two Super Scooper planes battling Los Angeles wildfires, leaving a critical resource unavailable.
The collision damaged the aircraft’s wing, forcing its grounding, and temporarily paused other firefighting flights, creating significant delays.
The FAA emphasized the dangers of flying drones near wildfires, noting it’s a federal crime with penalties up to $75,000 and prison time.
Over 36,000 acres have burned, with officials warning that delays in air support allow wildfires to spread rapidly, endangering lives and property.
It would be nice to have clarification that the drone was being operated by a private individual. Is it possible that this was an accident by another group trying to address the wildfires problem? I think the reason for that drone flying in the first place is relevant to gain some context.
My money’s on it being LAPD. A cop would have just the attitude needed to think the rules don’t apply to them.
I don’t know about the states, but in the UK. A police force decided to operate a drone for their own use. The CAA tried to politely educate them on the rules, and were, effectively told to eff off. A £35,000 ($43,000) fine was quite an effective slap on the wrist.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-sopfeu-plane-grounded-1.7427777
This is the only speculation laid out in the article around the operator:
Reminds me of the 4chan user who gave live updates of his bank robbery. People can’t help but publish their crimes for clout
Yeah, it’s not just “America” it’s “LA”…
Occam’s razor is some shit head ignored important safety regulations for views.
Don’t drones broadcast identifying information? I’m surprised they aren’t able to find the operator.
I’m surprised the drone isn’t embedded into the wing.
How exactly would a drone address the problem?
Detailed fire tracking. From the ground, it’s difficult to tell if the fires is wrapping around you etc. By getting a bit of altitude, you can see what’s going on, and act accordingly.
There are other options. Heck, fire bombers usually are accompanied by their own sorter aircraft.
It’s likely a scale thing. A satellite gives full coverage, but it’s working at a large scale, with a long time lag. A plane is more local, with less time lag, but still quite a large scale. A drone is hyper local, with almost no time lag. Depending who is asking, all 3 can be extremely useful.
I can unfortunately see where communication could break down. Local firefighters wanted hyper local information. They didn’t coordinate with the larger effort, and so the accident could have happened.
And I think it was more likely some dumbass recording for their social media page.
I see zero evidence that it was some official operation.
That’s what bird dogs are for (although I’m unsure if Cali is using them).
…bird dogs? 🤨
Bird dogs are small prop planes that monitor forest fires and help to liason between the tower and other fire fighting units (like helis and water bombers).
They’re used a lot in remote regions where there are no control towers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-airtanker-pilot-wildfire-season-1.7219664
Indeed.