The aftermath of the wildfire in the Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles has filled my social media feeds with horrible images and video of mass destruction – but one attempt to capture the ruin has instead hindered firefighting efforts. A crash with a civilian drone has put one firefighting plane out of commission, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
While the plane and its pilot were able to land safely after the collision, the damaged Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper was one less available resource in the fight against the wildfires. The plane was capable of dropping around 1,600 gallons of water in a single go, making about 6 such drops in an hour.
