The aircraft, named the Quebec 1, struck the drone at around 1 p.m. Thursday and has been grounded.

Summary

A drone collision grounded one of two Super Scooper planes battling Los Angeles wildfires, leaving a critical resource unavailable.

The collision damaged the aircraft’s wing, forcing its grounding, and temporarily paused other firefighting flights, creating significant delays.

The FAA emphasized the dangers of flying drones near wildfires, noting it’s a federal crime with penalties up to $75,000 and prison time.

Over 36,000 acres have burned, with officials warning that delays in air support allow wildfires to spread rapidly, endangering lives and property.

  • WolfLink@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    3 hours ago

    You have to register “powerful” vehicles with the government and you need a license to drive them. Like your kid’s Power Wheels car (cheap drone) doesn’t need to be registered.

    They guy you are responding to mentioned:

    1. Building drones under the 250 gram limit (analagous to building your own toy power wheels car that’s too small to be regulated)
    2. Building drones over the 250 gram limit and registering them and following the relevant rules (analagous in your example to having some sort of hobby project car and going through the proper channels to get it certified as street legal).

    Seriously what’s wrong with someone having a hobby?