Amazon delivery drone crashed and caused fire says FAA report

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, an Amazon delivery drone sparked an acres-wide fire last summer when it crashed in eastern Oregon during a test flight.

During a test flight in June, the Amazon drone's motors failed, causing it to plummet 160 feet to the ground, says the FAA report.

The document claims that a video referenced in the study shows the Amazon delivery drone “tumbling in uncontrolled free fall until it impacted the ground.”

The drone caught fire after coming in contact with the ground. An “intense lithium battery fire quickly consumed the aircraft,” and “several acres of wheat stubble field were soon on fire,” the report said.

The document removed Amazon's name but referred to the MK27 drone, the make, and model of Amazon's experimental Prime Air delivery drone.

In a May document from the Federal Aviation Administration, Amazon is not redacted when describing a second MK27 drone accident. The Amazon delivery drone's propeller failed in that case, sending the 89-pound machine plummeting “in an uncontrolled state.”

Amazon claims that no one has ever been injured or harmed as a result of the company's flight tests, reports Business Insider.

Retailers statement on Amazon delivery drone crashes

“Prime Air's number one priority is safety. We conduct extensive testing to gather data that continually improves the safety and reliability of our systems and operations. During these tests our drones fly over sterile ranges to ensure our employees are safe from potential injury,” the company added.

“We follow thorough procedures on how flight tests are conducted and how we respond to any incident. In this instance, we carried out a test with the utmost caution, as is normal in the aviation industry,” it said. “No employee or community member was at risk and the team followed all appropriate safety procedures and reporting requirements.”

“Our focus remains on innovating on behalf of our customers and scaling a service that is safe and reliable.” Amazon's spokesperson added. “We received a Part 135 Air Carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in August 2020 – a key milestone which has provided us with even more opportunities to keep improving the service.”

The Amazon delivery drone crashes are sure to reignite concerns about the viability of Prime Air's drone delivery service.

The service, which was established in 2013, has been beset by internal division, high turnover, and delays. Prime Air has yet to complete a single commercial delivery.

By comparison, Amazon's drone delivery competitor, Wing, has already made more than 100,000 deliveries.

Let us know what you think about drone deliveries in the comments below. Do you see this service taking off at all or do you think that delivering coffee by drone doesn't make any sense at all? We're curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more about drone delivery here on DroneXL.

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