Drone Strikes Firefighting Plane Over Palisades Fire

A firefighting plane was struck by an illegally operated drone over the Palisades fire Thursday, forcing the plane to be temporarily grounded, NBC News reported.

"A small drone hit the wing of our CL-415 Super Scooper aircraft" at the Palisades fire, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a press conference Friday. "The pilots were unaware that they hit the drone until they landed."

Maintenance workers spotted a "fist-sized hole in the leading edge of the wing," he said.

The drone hit the plane around 1 p.m. Thursday, grounding the plane until Monday when repairs are expected to the completed. The CL-415 is fitted with a tank that skims large bodies of water to "scoop" up water and then drop it on fires from above.

The collision has limited the Los Angeles Fire Department to one Super Scooper as it tries to contain the six active fires buring across Los Angeles.

"Today, January 9, 2025, at approximately 13:00 hours, Quebec 1 was struck by an unmanned drone not assigned to the Palisades Incident," LAFD spokesman Erik Scott said in a statement Thursday.

"Immediately following the collision, Quebec 1 returned to Van Nuys Airport with wing damage and no injuries. Quebec 1 is now out of service until further investigation and repair."

Marrone added that flying a drone near the fires is "not only dangerous, it's illegal." There's also a civil penalty of up to $75,000 for drone operators who interfere with emergency and wildfire responders during temporary flight restrictions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"The FAA treats these violations seriously and immediately considers swift enforcement action for these offenses," the agency said in a statement. "The FAA has not authorized anyone unaffiliated with the Los Angeles firefighting operations to fly drones in the TFRs [temporary flight restrictions]."

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