Treyarch co-founder pleads guilty to crashing drone into firefighting plane during LA fires

Peter T. Akemann, co-founder of Call of Duty studio Treyarch, recently plead guilty and took a deal after piloting a drone during the Los Angeles fires this past January, which damaged a firefighting aircraft.

On January 9, Akemann’s drone flew over Palisades as a Super Scooper water dumping plane was dousing the fires. His drone struck the Scooper’s left wing and forced it to be grounded for repairs.

By pleading guilty, he avoided a potential year in prison, and will have to perform 150 hours of community service in support of Southern California’s wildfire relief efforts. He will also pay the $65,000 cost to repair the Scooper.

According to the plea agreement, his drone was “at least 2,500 meters away from its launch point, and [he] lost visual sight of the Drone while flying it. […] Defendant admits that his use and control of the drone recklessly interfered with, and disrupted the operation of the Firefighting Aircraft, and that such Drone operations posed an imminent safety hazard to occupants of the Firefighting Aircraft.”

In a statement, acting US attorney Joseph McNally said the damage from Akemann’s drone “is a stark reminder that flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations. As this case demonstrates, we will track down drone operators who violate the law and interfere with the critical work of our first responders.”

Per The Verge, Akemann recently left his role as Skydance Interactive’s president. He first joined in 2016, and both his LinkedIn and X page have been scrubbed after the verdict.

Akemann’s lawyers issued a statement saying the Treyarch co-founder is “deeply sorry” for the incident, and that he “accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment, and is cooperating with the government in effort to make amends.”

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