Californian firefighting aircraft struck by drone
January 10, 2025
As authorities continue to fight the fires sweeping across Los Angeles, firefighting teams have been exposed to a further danger, with an aircraft grounded after hitting an unauthorised civilian drone.
Canadair CL-415 Superscooper Quebec 1 – one of a pair sent annually to California from the Canadian province of Quebec – made contact with a civilian drone while flying into the Palisades fire area at approximately 1pm local time. Images released by the Los Angeles Fire Department show a hole punctured in the leading edge of the port wing, just outboard of the engine.
“Quebec 1 sustained wing damage and remains out of service. There were no reported injuries,” confirmed a spokesperson from the LA County Fire Department. “The incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration”.
“Fire officials informed the FAA that a firefighting aircraft struck a drone while it was operating over the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9,” stated the Federal Aviation Authority, which confirmed that the aircraft landed safely. It further stressed on social media that “if you fly, emergency responders can’t”.
Confirming that nobody unaffiliated with the Los Angeles firefighting operations has been granted permission to fly in areas coffered by Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs), “the FAA treats these violations seriously and immediately considers swift enforcement action for these offenses,” it continued. The regulator can impose a civil penalty of up to $75,000 “against any drone pilot who interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement or emergency response operations when TRFs are in pace”.
With firefighting aircraft typically flying at very low altitudes – the same height as drones flown by members of the public, typically including for photographic purposes – the risk of unauthorised drones in the same airspace poses a very real risk to aircraft and crew.
In 2018, the US Forest Service received more than 17 documented instances of unapproved UAS flights over or near wildfires in five western states, resulting in aerial firefighting operations being temporarily shut down on more than 20 occasions. However, the agency cautions that the real number is likely to be much higher.
As of 9 January, the LA County Fire Department confirmed that the fire has now reached nearly 20,000 square kilometres with 6% containment, despite the over 2,321 personnel from the LAFD and other agencies assigned to the incident. An evacuation order is in place for the area just northwest of Santa Monica.
