FBI investigates Malibu firefighting aircraft drone strike
January 14, 2025
The FBI is seeking the public’s help to identify the operator of an unauthorised drone which collided with a firefighting aircraft battling the blazes in the Palisades area of California. Having recovered parts of the “heavily damaged” drone, the agency is now asking anyone with any information to come forward.
The Canadair CL-415 Superscooper ‘Quebec 1’ – one of a pair sent annually to California from the Canadian province of Quebec – had been conducting fires suppression operations in the Palisades area near Malibu on the morning of 9 January. However, operations were temporarily ceased when the leading edge of the aircraft’s port wing was strike by an unauthorised drone, resulting in a 3×6 inch hole.
Although the aircraft managed to land safely, it was grounded and subsequently out of action while assessments were undertaken; hindering the ongoing firefighting endeavours and potentially endangering lives.
With the area covered by a Temporary Flight Restriction, unauthorized operators should not have been flying a drone in the airspace. “The FAA treats these violations seriously and immediately considers swift enforcement action for these offenses,” stated the regulator, which has the power to 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 place”.
