A Culver City man has agreed to plead guilty to crashing a drone into a Super Scooper aircraft making water drops over the deadly Palisades Fire, grounding the powerful firefighting aircraft early into the battle against the growing wildfire.

Peter Tripp Akeman, 56, admitted to launching a private drone from a rooftop on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade Jan. 9 that hit an aircraft fighting the inferno in the sky

The defendant has agreed to pay more than $65,000 in restitution and faces up to a year in federal prison, prosecutors said.

A drone that authorities say was flying in restricted airspace on Jan. 9 put a fist-sized hole in the wing of a Super Scooper, taking it out of service.

A Culver City man has pleaded guilty to operating the drone that damaged and temporarily grounded a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft while crews battled the deadly Palisades Fire earlier this month, federal prosecutors announced on Friday, Jan. 31.

A Culver City man has agreed to plead guilty to recklessly operating a drone that crashed into and damaged a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft battling the Palisades Fire earlier this month.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally announced Friday that Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, of Culver City, California, admitted to "recklessly" operating a drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft during the Palisades fire.