Drone flying illegally collides with, grounds Super Scooper over Palisades fire

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Posted on 01/09/2025 9:56:34 PM PST by Angelino97

A firefighting plane that drops more than 1,500 gallons of water at a time is grounded after it collided with a drone flying illegally above the Palisades fire Thursday, Jan. 9, according to officials.

A drone was flying above the nearly 20,000-acre fire around 10 a.m. Thursday, when the Canadair CL-14 Super Scooper struck the drone, said Christopher Thomas, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The impact left a large hole in the plane’s left wing, but the pilot landed safely.

Because of the damage, the Super Scooper, which can drop 1,600 gallons of water at a time and refill its supply in five minutes, won’t be usable until it’s repaired. It will likely be out of commission for the duration of the Palisades fire, Thomas said.

In the temporary flight restriction zones established around wildfires, all aircraft not working toward firefighting efforts are banned.

Flying a drone near a wildfire often requires fire officials to ground all aircrafts to avoid possible collisions. A drone, Thomas said, could easily take down an aircraft, killing its pilots.

To ensure no other drones were in the air, crews had to ground all firefighting aircrafts for between 15 and 30 minutes, when they could’ve been battling the growing Palisades fire, Thomas said.

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I'm guessing the drone operator wanted content for his social media.

1 posted on 01/09/2025 9:56:34 PM PST by Angelino97

To: Angelino97

2 posted on 01/09/2025 10:01:52 PM PST by TalBlack (Time to use the Law and the Power. Good luck Mr. President.)

To: Angelino97

3 posted on 01/09/2025 10:04:09 PM PST by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)

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