Canadian 'Super Scooper' Plane Grounded After Hitting Civilian Drone Over LA Wildfires (cnn.com) 82
Los Angeles authorities have vowed to prosecute illegal drone operators after a civilian drone collided with a Canadian CL-415 firefighting plane combating the Palisades Fire, causing damage that grounded the aircraft and temporarily halted all aerial firefighting operations. CNN reports: The specifically designed CL-415 firefighting planes are used to scoop up more than 1,500 gallons of ocean water to drop on active fires. The plane in question, Quebec 1, "sustained wing damage and remains grounded and out of service," Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott said, adding that there were no reported injuries. The damaged plane will be prioritized for repair and should be back up flying by Monday, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Friday. The collision caused the temporary grounding of all aircraft responding to the Palisades Fire, The War Zone reported, citing Cal Fire. It was one of the two such planes deployed to the site, The War Zone said. "You will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman in a statement.
Marrone added that, "Our federal partners behind the scenes are going to be implementing procedures to be able to follow drones in our two large fire areas, and they will be able to identify who the operator of that drone is. "The most important thing to know is that if you fly a drone at one of these brush fires, all aerial operations will be shut down, and we certainly don't want to have that happen."
The FAA underscored late Thursday that it "has not authorized anyone unaffiliated with the Los Angeles firefighting operations to fly drones" in restricted airspace put in place over the wildfires. "The FAA treats these violations seriously and immediately considers swift enforcement action for these offenses," the agency said.
Marrone added that, "Our federal partners behind the scenes are going to be implementing procedures to be able to follow drones in our two large fire areas, and they will be able to identify who the operator of that drone is. "The most important thing to know is that if you fly a drone at one of these brush fires, all aerial operations will be shut down, and we certainly don't want to have that happen."
The FAA underscored late Thursday that it "has not authorized anyone unaffiliated with the Los Angeles firefighting operations to fly drones" in restricted airspace put in place over the wildfires. "The FAA treats these violations seriously and immediately considers swift enforcement action for these offenses," the agency said.
Alright, which one of you was it? (Score:4, Funny)
Come on, I know you're here.
Re: Alright, which one of you was it? (Score:2)
Stalin is delivering a speech to the politburo. Just as he is about to reach a triumphant rhetorical high, there is a loud sneeze from the audience.
"Who sneezed?!"
Silence.
Once again, "Who sneezed?!"
Nothing.
"Front row! On your feet! Against the wall!" Shot dead.
"Who sneezed?!"
A lone voice, meekly, from the back, "I did."
"Bless you, comrade!" And he goes on with the speech.
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LOL
CL-415 (Score:5, Interesting)
Weird that the article doesn't actually go into any details about how cool these planes are. Here [youtube.com] is a video of how they work for those who want to geek out.
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Obviously they need to make more of them. Wildfires are going to be an increasing problem in the next decade.
Re: CL-415 (Score:3, Interesting)
Back ordered for yearsâ¦
The World's Most Desperately Needed Airplane Is Back in Production
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/the-worlds-most-desperately-needed-airplane-is-back-in-production
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California had a chance to buy them in the past but declined figuring their immediate need could produce them on demand.
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Perhaps if forestry management was to be alowed to actually do the job they used to do then they will be far cheaper than building mor eplanes.
Also, property construction should stop building inside woodland and forests.
It's all called common sense.
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That was worth watching.
Thanks!
Re: CL-415 (Score:2)
That's a cool link and an interesting subject, thank you.
They didn't include it probably because the functionality of the plane is fairly irrelevant to the point of the article "plane hits drone", though.
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"Weird that the article doesn't actually go into any details about how cool these planes are."
Weird that you think the writer should spend a lot of time filling the article with data not relevant to the news instead of reporting more news.
Asshat! (Score:2)
Luck the Focker up and burn the key!
Re:Asshat! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Asshat! (Score:5, Insightful)
What drone?
So far we have seen ZERO evidence that a drone was involved. Examine the following:
1. the pilot didn't see a drone. In fact he was unaware of the collision until the aircraft landed and the damage was observed.
2. there have been zero credible reports of drone-bits being found in the hole on the aircraft wing.
3. there have been zero reports that Remote ID receivers or similar tech picked up a drone in the vicinity at the time of the incident.
Don't get me wrong -- it MAY have been a drone but right now there has been zero actual evidence released to support the claims being made.
This could have also been:
1. a bird.
2. a piece of material lofted into the air by the strong winds created by the wildfires (well documented in the past)
3. something we haven't identified
There's strong pressure from certain commercial interests to villify recreational drone use in order to clear hobbyists out of the 0-400ft segment of the airspace to make room for delivery drones and eVTOL air taxis. When you look at how long it actually took for the DHS, FBI and FAA to admit that the "mystery drones" over NJ and NY were basically just airliners, the suggestion that certain sectors are keen to vilify drones becomes even more credible.
Don't get me wrong... this may well be a drone and if it was, I'd be leading the lynch mob to deal with the idiot who was flying it -- however, as someone who is well versed in "sciencing stuff" I think we need a modicum of proof (ie: evidence) before we jump to conclusions. Remember the airline pilot who swore he hit a drone while landing at Heathrow? Yeah... it turned out to be a shopping bag. What we think has happened and what *actually* happens are often two entirely different things, sometimes driven by our biases.
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There seem to be less than a handful of people who have noticed this, though. It was proclaimed to be a drone (and a civilian drone, no less -- like there's no chance that an official drone was in the wrong place, it's happened before) based on zero evidence at all. And everyone, including people who fancy themselves "responsible drone owners", is eating it up.
Here in the NY/NJ area, the local power company (PSE&G) used the excuse of rogue drones (which are mostly misidentified airplanes) to get drone
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So I can shelve my plans for a drone transmitter anti-missile?
Good. (Score:3)
Any lookie-loos that get in the way of actual firefighting in order to get clicks on social media or make a few bucks licensing footage to cable news deserve to have their shit confiscated, be legally banned from flying ANYTHING in US airspace, probably some hefty fines, and maybe even some jail time.
Firefighting resources are now unavailable while people's houses burn because of some selfish dipshit and their drone not following the law. Fuck that guy, and anyone else who's personal dipshittery is causing grief for firefighters trying to save vast chunks of a major city.
Big Luigi energy (Score:2, Funny)
Did you ever consider that?
Re: Big Luigi energy (Score:3)
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Firefighting resources are now unavailable while people's houses burn because of some selfish dipshit and their drone not following the law. Fuck that guy, and anyone else who's personal dipshittery is causing grief for firefighters trying to save vast chunks of a major city.
Let's also keep in mind that the plane is doing low altitude maneuvers over an active fire and that the operator could have killed the crew of the plane if the drone had hit an engine or got jammed in a control surface instead of hitting the nose. Isn't fighting a fire with an aircraft dangerous enough?
This is an example of what Dangerous Stupidity looks like, person is soo fucking stupid that they are risking killing the people who are risking their lives trying to save people and their property.
It's a good reminder of why stupid people are despised, they're so stupid that they don't even consider that they could fuck themselves up. They don't give a shit about anybody else and the law designed to protect everyone from their idiocracy is subjected to the maxim "You can't make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious" .
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This is an example of what Dangerous Stupidity looks like, person is soo fucking stupid that they are risking killing the people who are risking their lives trying to save people and their property.
Indeed. One wonders how such people do not forget to breathe.
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Republicans are angry as hell? How many Republicans do you believe live in Malibu? It's about as lefty as it gets up there.
Everybody is worked up because it's rich celebrities being affected, and the "new" media is shilling it as hard as they can because a) it sells advertising, b) some of the better known newsies have lose their homes, too, c) it sells advertising, and, last but not least, it sells advertising.
Aside from your mentally deficient hate on the right, and inability to suppress it long enough to
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30% is still a whole lot of Republicans, and they have been quite vocal about how this is all the local government's fault.
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Not in the local news. Only the famous get to be on TV, and they're almost universally people (and I use the term loosely) who consider Mao a right wing reactionary.
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But the voter statistics aren't a lie. Malibu isn't nearly as blue as you think it is.
10 point shifts happen in elections- Malibu could vote red if an inspirational enough Republican came along.
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And Anaheim use to be called Klanaheim.
But the 60s were 60 years ago. Even Orange County is starting to lean a bit left, and Malibu is full of people who are communists in all but name.
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There are no communists living in Malibu. It's an absurd thought.
Every one of them is making their living off of pure capital investment.
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Republicans? That's celebrities and Paris Hilton territory. That is as "left" coastal elite as you can get next to the Hamptons on the other side of the continent.
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Re:Wildfires (Score:4, Insightful)
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Angry ? The republicans are angry about these fires ? Really ? You believe that ?
There are happy as fuck, and as with everything are trying to score some gutter political points by spreading bullshit.
They are like Trump, they don't give a shit about anything but themselves. And it seems like it's working, Trump got elected.
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The government didn't say much because all there was to say is "there don't actually appear to be any amount of drones and it's all mass hysteria".
You'll notice that the whole thing went quietly away after no one could ever find any drones.
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And was there something mysterious about it? There's soooo many hobbyists (and businesses) that fly drones around getting aerial footage, and it's just after Xmas and lots of kids got toy drones and don't know how to fly them. It would literally be a frickin' miracle if the odd one didn't crash somewhere.
So what?
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And?
Look, hundreds of thousands of people fly drones in the U.S., from hobbyists to people providing professional services. The drone that hit the plane in L.A. is assumed to be one that was illegally videoing the fire.
There is no conspiracy, just too many people flying drones where they shouldn't, and too many people seeing planes/helicopters and screaming "UNIDENTIFIED DRONE THAT DOESN'T FLY IN A WAY I THINK IT SHOULD!!!" because they read something on social media about "teh drones r coming 4 us".
Please
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Moderators (Score:1)
Jesus who are the idiots modding this -1 off-topic when it got like 7 replies?
Re: Wildfires (Score:3)
wel will see (Score:1)
Is it illegal? (Score:2)
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Yes, it is illegal. Very. Canadian pilot (so can't quote the relevant FAA regs) here but our laws are pretty similar. Flying drones in active firefighting zones can easily land you in jail, for this exact reason.
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Re:Is it illegal? (Score:4, Informative)
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Actually, times have changed (As of June 2021)
https://www.faa.gov/uas/recrea... [faa.gov]
"The law requires that all recreational flyers pass an aeronautical knowledge and safety test and provide proof of passage if asked by law enforcement or FAA personnel. The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) was developed to meet this requirement.
TRUST provides education and testing on important safety and regulatory information. If you fly your drone recreationally under the Exception for Recreational Flyers, you must pass the
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Drone pilots don't have to file flight plans, but in most circumstances neither do pilots of manned aircraft flying under visual flight rules.
Drone pilots are expected to check NOTAMs. I don't think the test requires you be able to read them (I never took it) but they're pretty clear. Here's one of the PSE
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Cause if its not illegal, there wont be any consequences. This is America, where people are generally free to be booger-eating morons.
Actually it's a Federal crime.
US Federal prisons range from "Club Fed" resorts (mainly for rich ppl) to 24x7 anal probes from smelly sweaty "don't give a f%&k" dudes named "Bubba" and other psychotic ppl.
The DA's & Courts in Cali might slap your hand and jerk your Johnson, but Federal prosecutors & Courts are card-carrying members of the No Fun Gang, especially if they have an "open & shut" case against you.
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There's no question in my mind that at least all but one of these fires was started on purpose. It is "wildfire season" so even though it was a bit early, it's completely believable given the weather conditions that at least one of the major fires was "naturally occurring," but the timing and spacing of the others is way too suspicious. It's like a gang of saboteurs waited for the first big wildfire of the season then as soon as the fire department was in full motion towards it they started 3 more at the ot
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A while back, a certain terrorist group urged its members to go light stuff up in California. Now, here we get not just talk about arson, but people trying to fly drones into fire fighting planes. Makes me wonder who is behind this, as almost all fires lit in CA seem to be deliberately set.
DumboCraps in Kalyfornya are responsible for instigating it.
They created a living environment that attracts gays, lesbos, "none of the above" types, junkies, criminals, and illegal aliens.
If the Kalyfornya DumboCraps could ever figure out a way to chase all the non-POC ppl out of the State while robbing them of every Dollar they have on the way out while getting the Federal government to fund all of their twisted fantasies (HSR in the middle of NOWHERE) ... they would be so absolutely happy that they might
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Of course it is deliberate.
The funny thing about fire is there is no fire without ignition. A bit of warmer air isnt going to do it. Wildfires during this season are common. The winds are common at this time and assist the fire.
This was expected.
Ignition is usually man made through sparks, glass etc. Sometimes it can happen due to many things lining up, thus natural fires can and do start. But most of the time we can place it on a man made ignition source.
The thing is in recent years these fires, like
Look, in the sky, it's a shadow fleet (Score:1)
Who needs a shadow fleet snagging undersea fiber when you can pay a patsy $20/hr to fly their drone and stop/hinder/delay a firefighting operation that's trying to prevent a $100M/hr property loss?
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Why the actual fuck do us private citizens have to shoulder the burden of the homelessness problem, when THE RICH and CORPORATIONS are the ones who are really to blame for it?
The Rich and Corporations need to be forced to pay their fair share of taxes. Also no one *needs* to have a personal income of a billion dollars a year, or whatever figure you want to name. Past a certain dollar amount the rest should be taxed at a 100% rate. You do that and the national debt will be erased
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Drones dont need cleaning so meths have no use.
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> with the exception of literally kids toys
No, no exceptions.
Toys can be modified. Basically ban the sale of any flying device that isnt a kite and the only drones that should be produced must be GPS tracked tightly controlled police and reserach drones operated by a TEAM of operators, not a single individual.
You guys couldnt ban guns, but you could ban drones. Any drone sold, any store selling drones should be raided/fined.
Figured those areas were NFZ? (Score:1)
Find, prosecute, and jail that drone operator. (Score:2)
The prevalence of all these drones has caused major disruptions in both expected and unexpected ways. Unskilled and unprofessional people can operate drones dangerously and recklessly.
Whoever flew that drone has caused massive damage, and should be held fully responsible. Hopefully that may lead to other "drone operators" being a little more responsible.
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News crews perhaps?
Don't worry (Score:2)