Los Angeles wildfires: Firefighter plane grounded for 3 days after drone strike

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Federal authorities and California police are investigating after someone flew a drone into the wing of a firefighting plane carrying water to fight the forest fires are raging across Los Angeles – causing a “fist-sized hole” and knocking it out of action for days at a crucial time.

It happened when a Quebec 1 Super Scooper plane flew in from Canada to help contain the Palisades fire, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News Digital.

It was one of two Super Scooper aircraft in use in Southern California at the time.

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the plane drops water on the palisade fire

A Super Scooper aircraft drops water on the Palisades fire on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. in Pacific Palisades, California. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Around 1:00 p.m. Thursday, a civilian drone flew into his wing Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Eric Scott.

“The pilots did not know they had hit a drone,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marron said at a news conference Friday. “It wasn’t until they landed at Van Nuys Airport that maintenance personnel noticed that there was a fist-sized hole in the leading edge of the wing, inside the landing light.”

The FAA is investigating, and a spokesperson told Fox News Digital that interfering with firefighters is a federal crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a $75,000 fine.

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On Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, planes take water from the ocean to extinguish the fire in the Palisades Mountains to prevent it from spreading. The Palisades Fire had broken out two days earlier and devastated the coastal population of Los Angeles County. (Sandy Hooper/Imagn)

“The FAA takes these violations seriously and is immediately considering taking swift enforcement action for these violations,” the spokesman said. “The FAA has not authorized anyone not associated with firefighting operations in Los Angeles to fly drones in TFR (temporary flight restrictions).”

No casualties have been reported. CalFire said it expects the plane to be back in the air by Monday.

Authorities are urging civilians not to fly drones near wildfires because they could get in the way of low-flying firefighting planes and delay emergency services. Pilot distraction can be fatal.

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Firefighters battle the Kenneth Fire in California

Fire crews battle the Kennett fire in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The longer the delay, the more the fire can spread.

As a result of the fires, at least 10 people died and more than 10,000 were destroyed homes and businesses. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the many fires raging in Southern California, has burned more than 20,000 acres and was only 8% contained as of Friday morning.