Man pleads guilty after drone hits LAPD helicopter, conviction 1st of its kind - NBC News

A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count after his drone crashed into a police helicopter, prompting an emergency landing, federal prosecutors said.

18 because he was curious after hearing a police helicopter and sirens, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint quotes an officer saying that if the drone had hit the helicopter's main rotor, it could have brought down the helicopter.

Hernandez admitted to investigators that he operated the drone, according to a criminal complaint.

He said the drone is hard to see at night, he looked down for a few seconds at the controller, and when he looked up he saw it was "smacked" by the hovering helicopter, according to the document.