Drone smacks into police helicopter, forcing pilot to land in Los Angeles, feds say

A California man recklessly flew a drone into a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter, officials said.

The FBI arrested Andrew Rene Hernandez, 22, on Thursday after he damaged the LAPD helicopter with a drone, the Department of Justice said in a news release. The pilot was forced into an emergency landing.

Hernandez was charged with one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, officials said.

“The case against Hernandez is believed to be the first criminal case in the nation alleging the unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California.

The helicopter was flying near the scene of a suspected burglary at a pharmacy in Hollywood on Sept. 18 when the pilot saw the drone. He tried to dodge it, but the drone struck the helicopter, officials said.

“The drone damaged the helicopter’s nose, antenna and bottom cowlings,” the Department of Justice said. “According to the complaint, ‘if the drone had struck the helicopter’s main rotor instead of the fuselage, it could have brought the helicopter down.’”

Hernandez said he flew the drone “to see what was going on,” officials said. The helicopter then hit the drone and it fell from the sky into a neighborhood, damaging a car on the way down.

Hernandez will appear in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles at a later date, the Department of Justice said.

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Drone smacks into police helicopter, forcing pilot to land in Los Angeles, feds say."