Get the latest gossip

Former Skydance Interactive President Pleads Guilty to Piloting Drone That Crashed Into Plane During Palisades Fire

Peter Akemann has agreed to cover an estimated $65,169 in plane repairs and to complete 150 hours of community service to help aid Southern California wildfire relief.

Peter Akemann, the formerpresident of Skydance Interactive, has pleaded guilty to flying the drone that collided with and subsequently grounded a Canadian Super Scooper firefighting plane as the Palisades Fire raged on Jan. 9. Akemann, who worked with Skydance’s video game and virtual reality arm starting in 2016 and recently left his role, agreed to a guilty plea of one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. “This damage caused to the Super Scooper 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.

Get the Android app