Treyarch co-founder Peter Akemann – who more recently served as president of Skydance Interactive – has pleaded guilty to flying the drone that crashed into, and grounded, a firefighting plane assisting in the efforts to control the recent LA wildfires.
Akemann’s drone crashed into the Super Scooper firefighting plane – capable of carrying over 1000 gallons of water to dump on fires – on 9th January (thanks The Hollywood Reporter). The impact resulted in damage to the aircraft’s left wing, grounded it for several days and preventing it from participating in the LA firefighting operation.
At the time of the crash, the US Federal Aviation Administration had implemented temporary flight restrictions barring drones from flying near the Southern California wildfires. Despite this, Akemann is said to have launched a drone from the top floor of a Santa Monica parking garage in an attempt to survey the Palisades Fire, but eventually lost track of it a mile and a half from its starting point – at which point it collided with the firefighting plane.
Authorities eventually traced the drone back to Akemann, and he’s now agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft – a misdemeanor offence that carries a prison sentence of up to one year. However, Akemann is hoping to escape the prison term in exchange for 150 hours of community service in support of wildfire relief and the approximately $65,000 USD it cost to repair the plane.
“This defendant recklessly flew an aircraft into airspace where first responders were risking their lives in an attempt to protect lives and property,” acting US attorney Joseph T. McNally said in a statement. “This damage caused to the Super Scooper is a stark reminder that flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations. As this case demonstrates, we will track down drone operators who violate the law and interfere with the critical work of our first responders.”
In a seperate statement, Akemann’s defense attorneys said he is “deeply sorry” for the incident, adding he “accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment, and is cooperating with the government in effort to make amends.” However, they also pointed to a “number of mitigating factors that will come to light during the court proceedings”, including the supposed failure of a geo fencing safeguard feature on Akemann’s DJI Drone.
Akemann co-founded Treyach – the studio best known for its work on the Call of Duty series – in 1996, and more recently served as president of Skydance Interactive, which he joined in 2016. The Hollywood Reporter says Akemann “recently left his role” at Skydance, however.