Culver City guy agrees to plead guilty for flying drone into firefighting plane during Palisades fire

A man from Culver City admitted to crashing his drone into a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft during the Palisades Fire. The crash caused over $65,000 in damages. He now faces up to one year in prison.

So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Davin said:
So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean they have good judgment.

Teal said:

Davin said:
So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean they have good judgment.

True. I work in IT, and some PhDs don’t even know what a web browser is.

Teal said:

Davin said:
So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean they have good judgment.

Most PhDs are really smart in one area but clueless about regular life stuff. I had to explain to one that the French Revolution was a real event. This guy was a molecular biologist.

@Molly12
To be fair, France seems to have a revolution every few decades.

Teal said:

Davin said:
So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean they have good judgment.

But their job titles look good on a resume.

Teal said:

Davin said:
So this guy has a PhD but still doesn’t have common sense? Really?

Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean they have good judgment.

Being smart and having wisdom are not the same thing.

@Ridley
I call it ‘thintelligence,’ like from Jurassic Park. Some people are great at tasks but completely lost when asked to think beyond step-by-step instructions.

He’s facing up to a year in prison and has to pay over $65,000 for the damage he caused.

Linden said:
He’s facing up to a year in prison and has to pay over $65,000 for the damage he caused.

Honestly, that’s a light sentence. If he hit the plane in the wrong spot, people could have died.

@Ezri
Yeah, but I think the max sentence is just one year for interfering with firefighting efforts.

Linden said:
He’s facing up to a year in prison and has to pay over $65,000 for the damage he caused.

You can’t just fly a drone anywhere. There are rules for a reason.

Taran said:

Linden said:
He’s facing up to a year in prison and has to pay over $65,000 for the damage he caused.

You can’t just fly a drone anywhere. There are rules for a reason.

This isn’t even about knowing the rules. It’s common sense not to fly near an active fire.

Linden said:
He’s facing up to a year in prison and has to pay over $65,000 for the damage he caused.

Probably just wanted some clicks and views.

He launched the drone from a Santa Monica parking garage and flew it 1.5 miles to Palisades. Of course he lost sight of it.

That was reckless. He’s lucky no one got hurt.

Brynn said:
That was reckless. He’s lucky no one got hurt.

Interesting how he’s just called a ‘Culver City man’ instead of mentioning his high-level job.

At least he has to pay for the repairs. Hopefully, he learns his lesson.

Tennyson said:
At least he has to pay for the repairs. Hopefully, he learns his lesson.

If he’s the president of a company, this fine probably isn’t much for him.