Joy, some selfish git endangering others by asserting his right to do whatever. I appreciate it's not going to be a particularly well received comment, but as a Canadian I've been reflecting on Gander and US/Canadian relations and empathy in the past while reading the news lately. And we aren't there anymore. They should just send these two planes and our firefighters back given all the rhetoric and threats of tariffs thrown at Canada lately.
It hit a tree not a drone. You can see the piece of wood inside the wing in some of the pictures. The fire creates tornadoes and drafts which lift dead trees. Don't expect an updated correction on this story.
Can they not just patch it up fairly quickly and get it going again due to emergency? or do they have to keep it as is to conduct a whole investigation now.
The repair will have to be performed as per manufacturer documentation by a licensed airframe mechanic and signed off by an inspector. This may or may not be a quick process depending on the severity of the damage and availability of replacement parts. The FAA generally wouldn't grant emergency exceptions to those rules, except perhaps for a ferry flight to another maintenance facility.
''The collision left the CL-415 plane with a "sizable hole in its wing," said Christopher Thomas, a spokesperson with the California state firefighting agency, Cal Fire.''
Time to roll out a kill-switch that emergency authorities can use to knock down all unauthorized drones in areas like that. After some fair warning, any drone still flying in such zones would suddenly become dead weight. It might be the only way to guard against this sort of idiocy.
Ah yes, like the crypto backdoors only law enforcement use.
E-stopping a drone in flight is about the most dangerous thing you can do if you are worried about hurting someone. My drone has about 25lbs of lithium batteries externally mounted, I'd hate for it to fall on some school bus or firetruck etc.
The flying of unauthorized drones within firefighting areas is a federal crime punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a fine of up to US$75,000. Catching the person is the first order of business.
