A news chopper believed to have been damaged by a drone made an unplanned landing in the city Wednesday.
The collision occurred over downtown Los Angeles at approximately 7:15 p.m. local time. Chris Christi, the news reporter aboard, said the impact initially sounded like a bird strike. It did not affect the ability of the pilot to control the helicopter, which made a safe precautionary landing.
#BREAKING: A DRONE struck the AIR7HD Chopper while they were flying over Downtown LA — requiring a precautionary landing.
Luckily, everyone on board is OK. Hear from our @abc7chriscristi at 11pm on @ABC7. pic.twitter.com/MHbxVMr2Tx
— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) December 5, 2019
The Air Support Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) dispatched its own helicopter to the scene in an attempt to locate the drone pilot. LAPD subsequently issued a statement via Twitter reminding Angelinos to “be a responsible and legal unmanned aircraft operator” and to “know the rules.” Those include a local ordinance passed in 2015 that prohibits recreational drone flights that violate federal laws or that are operated in a “careless or reckless manner.” The still-unidentified drone apparently was operating in violation of a number of them, including flight after civil twilight and flight above 400 feet agl.
