Drone Operator Offers Plea Deal For Damaging Water Bomber

The Los Angeles Times is reporting a drone operator whose aircraft damaged the wing of water bomber working the Palisades fire in Los Angeles last month has offered to pay a five figure repair bill and do 150 hours of community to avoid jail for the mishap. Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, of Culver City, offered to plead guilty to unsafe operation of an uncrewed aircraft according to prosecutors. Akemann's lawyers told the newspaper he is “deeply sorry for the mistake he made.” Akemann appeared in court Friday afternoon and was released on $15,000 bail. The prosecutors did not describe the investigation that led to the plea deal offer. A judge could still impose a jail sentence of up to a year for Akemann's actions.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/drone-operator-offers-plea-deal-for-damaging-water-bomber

You know he had to have known that fire bombers were operating over that area, low and in poor visibility. I think he was trying to get the one in a million shot of a fire bomber flying in to drop their load. So it was a 1 in 65,000 shot he got instead.

The costs Akemann inflicted on others were FAR more than the $65,000 to repair the airplane. Fire fighting was hampered by that plane being out of service. Crew members had their schedules disrupted. Time was spent investigating the collision. Add to that some measure of punitive damages for Akemann being such a jerk.
The offer of 150 hours of work – let’s call that $30/hour, or $4,500 – isn’t enough to close that gap.
People who understand sentencing better than I do are welcome to correct me. :wink:

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According to the LA Times he still faces up to 12 months in jail for unsafe operation of a drone.

Presumably the plea deal is for the damage he caused and not for any FAA violations.

Wow!
Good that he was nailed and will at least pay an order of magnitude or more of his drone’s price.
I hope media publicize widely.

Sorry, but cant trust general public. I almost hit drone landing at khhr. Need to ban all unmanned objects without adsb out. Just gotta do it.

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While coming forward is pretty cute, taking a CL415 off the line for a few days to repair this damage is unlikely to match the gents piggy bank.

That dent and repair is probably the cheapest item on the invoice. Lost revenue for the operator, worsened conditions due to the loss of the plane in the chain - fighting raging fire.

Additionally the person willingly and knowingly risked the life and safety of the crew and people on the ground, when operating this drone in the vicinity of a aerial natural disaster- response.

I really appreciate the coming-out, but I think leniency and silk-glove treatment is the wrong response to this transgression.

This needs to be (legally and financially) punished to the fullest extend and there needs to be severe and noticable consequences including federal charges and (imnsho) jail time. Joe Public needs to learn that things have consequences.

We cannot afford to have people intentionally pull stunts like this and rest easy, knowing that all they have to do is come out, do a chicken dance, mumble “So Sorry!” and walk away - to do it again.

And we know it will happen again.

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His wilful actions endangered flight crew, but I doubt he thought about the danger.

There are laws, depending on jurisdiction perhaps, that do not limit negligence to wilfully harming people/property. Perhaps phrased as ‘a reasonable person should have known’. Civil suits for damages are also possible.

Would be good to see him jailed. (Courts may avoid jail if the perp is earning money to feed family and pay fine, with restrictions on where and when he travels such that he has to stay home when not at a job. Judges and jurisdictions may vary.)

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Hey! you AvWeb posters who thought damage was very small - observe the cost, look at photos with skin off to see bent inner structure.

Aircraft repair of this nature is never inexpensive and the repair never happens fast. It’s always very expensive and slow to get repaired. It’s an aviation truism.

Disagree. I know lots of metal workers who can straighten metal and patch holes like than for under $1,000 and do a job which is very structurally sound. Just because it is “aviation” it is suddenly $65,000…

The Drone operator (as you might expect) was the founder of a game development company. He’s worth over $200M He should pay way more! No wonder he 1) has an attorney, and 2) offered to pay for the repairs!

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They should have mad an example of this moron and fined him the full extent, as well as jailed him for the full extent. These reckless drone operators have to be shown that this behavior is NOT acceptable and has SERIOUS consequences! This could have easily brought down the plane and killed someone

Any one who reads the fine print on a rental car agreement will see there is a loss of service clause where if you wreck your rental car you agree to pay the amount the vehicle would have earned while it was being repaired and unavailable. I’m thinking into the 6 figures if you apply that metric here.
The drone guy should change his name and move I suspect there will be an eye for an eye retribution and his residence "might burn down.”
I’m for throwing the book at him, secondary manslaughter might be in there too. If he really is some wealthy guy go after his assets too under civil penalties. Saying your sorry isnt enough!

johnbpatson:
You FAIL reading comprehension, visual understanding, …

It is obvious from photographs that structure behind the skin was bent, extruded parts. That was also stated in AvWeb posts.

Aviation people must understand structure and do the job right, I wouldn’t trust you to patch a low pressure air duct in house heating system.

Paying the repair cost isn’t even a start of the financial damage he caused. How many more homes burned down because that tanker was grounded for a week? We’re probably talking hundreds of additional homes lost. He needs some jail time and a bigger financial penalty (supposedly he is a millionaire) to deter others from doing the same in the future.

You guys are too kind. I personally do not want to see jail time for him. A more inappropriate penalty would be living under a bridge for a large period of time or helping to rebuild Gaza for an even larger period of time.
I as a taxpayer do not want to see him have daily three squares and a warm bed.

:rofl: You’ve just told us what all the real aviation people here are rolling on the floor laughing about… that you’ve not got the first clue about aircraft structures and aviation in general. Your suggestion is the sort of ‘tosser repair attitude’ that killed over 500 people in JAL FL123 747 crash. Best stick to paper planes and whatever ‘non-aviation’ it is you profess to understand. :wink:

Correction…. Appropriate
Not inappropriate
Arrrgh