‘Super Scooper’ Plane Fighting LA Fires Wrecked by Someone’s Drone

As wildfires tear through Los Angeles, helicopters and planes are taking to the skies to douse the flames with water and fire retardant. Thanks to the wonders/horrors of modern technology, however, civilians are joining them in the form of drones. Many are launching their personal, commercially available drones into the air to capture footage of the destruction.

The bad combination has now resulted in the inevitable: one of those civilian pilot drones collided with a firefighting aircraft, hindering the fight against the raging blaze.

The CL-415 “Super Scooper” is one of the many aircraft being used to subdue the fire. It can quickly scoop 1,600 gallons of ocean water and then dump it all over a fire as it flies by. Its remarkable turnaround time is what makes it an invaluable part of any wildfire relief effort.

Many of the other aircraft being used, specifically ones dropping fire retardant, have to fly back to an airport to be reloaded. The Super Scooper’s reload time is practically instantaneous by comparison.

Super Scoopers are incredible to watch in action. When they need to be refilled, they simply skim the surface of the ocean like a seaplane getting ready to land. Only, it never stops moving or even slows down all that much. Within seconds, its tanks fill with water, and within a couple of minutes, it can dump that water on a wildfire.

The collision damaged the plane’s wing, temporarily grounding it until it can be repaired. Of the time being missed, Cal Fire spokesperson Chris Thomas told the New York Times, “So whose house is not going to get that water to protect it?”

The FAA implemented temporary flight restrictions to protect firefighting aircraft from further drone interference. People are already disregarding them, though, because heroic efforts be damned, they have to get their footage to score those sweet internet points.

We can only hope people still flying drones are identified because the FAA has warned that interfering with firefighting efforts is a federal crime that could land someone up to a year in prison and a fine of $75,000.