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Last updated Sept. 27, 2026 · Next weekly sweep Mon. Sept. 28, 2026Every row links to its source. Spotted an error or a missing hub? Send a correction or tip.
Tracker › Drone Delivery › Operators › Amazon Prime Air
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Amazon Prime Air: every hub, every incident, every unanswered question

Amazon says its MK30 delivery drone will reach nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2026. The 500 is not a list Amazon published. It is every municipality inside a 7.5-mile circle around each hub, and the hubs are named, with street addresses, in Amazon's own FAA filings. This page tracks every one of them, the aircraft flying from them, what has come down, and what Amazon has and has not said on the record.

By Haye KestelooUpdated Sept. 27, 2026Sources: FAA, Amazon, DroneXL reporting
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50
Hubs and sites on the record
FAA filings, state reviews and announced sites, from the list below
36
Hubs FAA-approved
TX 22 · FL 6 · MI 4 · KC 2 · AZ 1
7
In review
FAA drafts and state reviews on the record
11
Metros operating
Per Amazon, Aug. 19, 2026
8
US incidents in DroneXL's record
Dec. 2024 to Sept. 2026
40,000
Flights per day authorized
1,000 per hub, on paper
0 / 25
Questions answered
Three rounds, Sept. 3 to Sept. 15 · nothing received

The aircraft

MK30 · from FAA environmental filings
AircraftAmazon MK30, six-motor hybrid: vertical takeoff, wing-borne cruise
Empty weight77.9 lb (35.5 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight83.2 lb (37.8 kg)
Payload5 lb (2.3 kg), one internal package
Aircraft weight per pound of cargo15.6 lb (Zipline P2: 6.9 · Wing 7000W-B: about 5)
Range and area7.5 mi radius, 174 sq mi per hub
CruiseUp to 73 mph, typically 180 to 377 ft AGL
Delivery methodHovers and drops the package from about 13 ft; never lands off-site except in a contingency
Hours6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., up to 7 days a week (7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Texas filing)
Flights per hubUp to 1,000 per day, about 365,000 per year
RedundancyAmazon: no single point of failure can cause loss of control; backup flight controller; detect-and-avoid
Recovery systemNone. No parachute or ballistic recovery system in any filing or Amazon spec
Noise, measuredSEL 63.7 dBA under a 200 ft cruise pass at full load; about 82 dBA at 20 ft and 70 dBA at 75 ft in delivery hover (FAA Technical Noise Report). Pitch not stated.
How it compares
OperatorAircraftEmptyPayloadRecovery
AmazonMK3077.9 lb5 lbNone
ZiplineP2 Zip55 lb8 lbParachute
WingHummingbird 7000W-B / 8000-A14 lb / 24.3 lb MTOW2.3 to 2.7 lb / 5 to 6.6 lbLight airframe

Figures from FAA filings and published interviews.

What Amazon has said on the record

Design rationale, consistent since 2013: a 5-pound limit covers most of what Amazon sells (86% of items in 2013, over 60% of frequently purchased products in 2026); 7.5-mile range, double the MK27; propeller redesign cut perceived noise by about half.

Prime Air's Baton Rouge operations manager Tyra Jones told the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge on Sept. 9 that the hub holds 20 MK30s and can fly 10 at once, that Amazon has another drone model in development, and that the aircraft are quieter than an idling delivery truck. The FAA's own Baton Rouge noise filing puts a delivery at 92.1 dBA SEL measured 25 feet from the aircraft.

On collisions and the absence of a parachute: nothing on the record. Twenty-five written questions across three rounds, Sept. 3 to Sept. 15, went unanswered. Amazon's communications team replied twice on Sept. 4 about email delivery and not about the aircraft.

Amazon at the Westborough community meeting

DroneXL recording · Westborough, Mass. · Sept. 23, 2026

Amazon's Prime Air presentation and the residents' questions at the DoubleTree in Westborough, Massachusetts, on September 23, 2026. Video: DroneXL. Read DroneXL's report from the meeting.

Amazon drones coming to your town? What residents can still do, and how to reach Amazon by phone and chat.

Where it flies

50 sites on the record · 36 approved or operating · 7 in review · 7 announced · 8 incidents in DroneXL's record
Amazon Prime Air Solid: operating or FAA-approved Hollow: announced or in FAA review Dashed: former site Black ring: incident in DroneXL's record

Hub coordinates are placed from the street addresses in the FAA decisions and are approximate pending geocoding. Amazon lists 11 operating metros but does not say which hub inside a multi-hub metro is live; "operating" marks every approved hub in a metro Amazon says is active.

The 43 hubs

Click a column to sort
CodePlace↑StateDetailMetro / scopeStatusFAA decisionFiling

FAA authorizations

Every environmental review and re-evaluation on the FAA's public list
Metro or areaStateScopeAircraftFlights per dayStatusFAA decisionFiling
Tolleson (Phoenix)AZ1 hubMK30469 per dayOperating2024-11-19FAA PDF
Texas, 22 hubsTXDFW 7 · Houston 6 · San Antonio 3 · Austin 3 · Waco · San Marcos · El PasoMK301,000 per hubOperating2026-02-05FAA PDF
Detroit, 4 hubsMIHazel Park · Wixom · Pontiac · DetroitMK301,000 per hubOperating2026-05-01FAA PDF
Kansas City, 2 hubsKS/MOKansas City KS · Kansas City MOMK301,000 per hubOperating2026-05-01FAA PDF
Florida, 6 hubsFLRuskin · Tampa · Orlando · Tamarac · Riviera Beach · MiamiMK301,000 per hubOperating2026-06-01FAA PDF
Chicago, 3 hubsILMarkham · Matteson · West ChicagoMK301,000 per hubIn FAA reviewIn review (comments closed Aug 14, 2026)FAA PDF
Baton Rouge, 1 hubLA1 hubMK301,000In FAA reviewIn review (comments closed Jul 22, 2026). Service began Jul 7; no final EA or FONSI posted as of Sept 21FAA PDF
Omaha (Papillion), 1 hubNE1 hubMK301,000In FAA reviewIn review (comments closed Jul 22, 2026); no final posted as of Sept 21FAA PDF
College StationTXFormer first US siteMK27-2, MK30470 per dayFormer2024-09-18FAA PDF
9 FAA actions · 40 hubs filed · 35 approved, 5 in review · Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse and Boise announced with no filing found; they may proceed under the national programmatic EA signed July 28, 2026. Tracy, Portland, North Haven and Westborough surfaced in September 2026 through local records and Amazon statements; none is on the FAA's public list as of Sept 21, 2026.

Markets in DroneXL's record

Where the aircraft are confirmed flying, and where they are promised
PlaceStatePartnerStatusSince / targetNoteSource
TollesonAZAmazonOperatingNov 2024Crane strikes Oct 1, 2025DroneXL
Richardson, Waco, San Antonio, RichmondTXAmazonOperating2025 to 2026Richmond pool drop Aug 17, 2026DroneXL
RuskinFLAmazonOperating2026DroneXL
Hazel Park, PontiacMIAmazonOperating2026DroneXL
Kansas CityKSAmazonOperating2026DroneXL
PapillionNEAmazonOperating2026FAA draft EA still openDroneXL
Baton RougeLAAmazonOperating2026FAA draft EA still open; precautionary landing beside Florida Blvd Sept. 10DroneXL
Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse, BoiseMultiAmazonAnnouncedAnnounced Aug 19, 2026Nearly 500 cities and towns by end of 2026DroneXL
North HavenCT—In FAA reviewIn reviewPrime Air Drone Delivery Center at the 409 Washington Ave warehouse. North Haven Planning & Zoning approved the delivery building (P26-17) and site hardening 5-0 on May 4, 2026, and accepted revised fence plans Aug 3. FAA requested a Connecticut Coastal Management Act consistency review from CT DEEP: up to 1,000 MK30 flights a day, 7.5-mile radius; public comment through Oct 1, DEEP decision due Oct 16. Connecticut Airport Authority executive director briefed his board on the plan (NBC Connecticut, Sept 24); the board's Sept 23 draft minutes do not name it. No FAA environmental document posted for the site as of Sept 26, 2026.Source
TracyCA—AnnouncedNone foundEast Grant Line Road fulfillment center. Amazon told the Los Angeles Times (story published Aug 29, 2026) that flights would begin within a month. Asked by The Stockton Record for a start date (published Sept 24, 2026), Amazon gave no date or timeline. No FAA environmental document for the site as of Sept 27, 2026; no California entry on Amazon's locations page.DroneXL
PortlandOR—AnnouncedNone foundPre-application conference request filed with Portland Permitting & Development for a Prime Air Drone Delivery Center at the 1001 N. Schmeer Road sub-same-day fulfillment center (former Portland Meadows site). Amazon told the Portland Business Journal it plans to launch in early 2027. No FAA environmental document published for the site.DroneXL
WestboroughMA—In FAA reviewIn reviewPrime Air Drone Delivery Center proposed for the parking lot of Amazon's SMA1 same-day facility at Otis Street, Westborough. Service radius 7.5 miles (about 175 square miles, parts of 13 cities and towns). Amazon community meeting Sept 23, 2026, DoubleTree Westborough: overflow crowd, no resident spoke in favor. Amazon said it plans to start with about six drones and several hundred daily deliveries; FAA allows up to 1,000 flights a day per site. Still needs Planning Board site-plan approval (hearing continued to Oct 6), MassDOT Aeronautics registration and FAA site-level environmental review, which Amazon said is under review. Amazon's stated goal: flights as soon as end of October, by end of 2026.Source
TallahasseeFL—AnnouncedNone foundFulfillment center, 6720 Mahan Dr at I-10. Drone storage unit for the front parking lot in documents filed Sept 18, 2026 (WCTV). Prime Air Ground Handlers hiring at $27/hour. Amazon: working with local officials, community event planned. No FAA filing located as of Sept 23, 2026.DroneXL
JacksonvilleFL—AnnouncedNone foundAmazon slide headed SJA1 (same-day delivery center, 1700 Imeson Rd) shown at a public meeting at Jacksonville International Airport, per a pilot's Sept 2026 Facebook post: launch site northeast of Herlong (HEG), about 6.5-mile radius, early December start, day VFR only. Not among the six hubs in the FAA's June 1, 2026 Florida EA. No Jacksonville FAA document as of Sept 25, 2026.DroneXL
7 rows operating in DroneXL coverage · 5 announced · 2 in review. Amazon's target: nearly 500 cities and towns by Dec. 31, 2026. Sites announced or under state review since this table was built are appended from the site list above.

What has come down

US incidents in DroneXL's record · no serious injuries reported in any

What this column measures: Any documented collision, uncontrolled descent, parachute deployment or off-site landing in US commercial service, from public reporting: DroneXL stories, local news, video, public records. Not NTSB data. Not a rate. The same rule is applied to every operator.

DateLocationTypeWhat happenedOutcomeSource
2026-09-21Waco, TXPrecautionary landingMK30 registered N328PA made a precautionary landing on a grass lawn at a Waco workplace, resting tail-down on its lower wing with its two small landing wheels extended. Photos were posted to Facebook on September 21. The poster said Amazon sent a chase truck to recover it. Amazon has not said what triggered the landing.No injuries or damage reported; recovered by an Amazon crew, per the poster; cause not statedDroneXL
2026-09-11Baton Rouge, LA (Florida Boulevard)Precautionary landingMK30 registered N486BG landed itself on the grass verge beside Florida Boulevard, in front of Broadmoor Presbyterian Church, upright with all six propellers intact, two months after the hub opened. Filmed by a passerby. Amazon has not said what triggered the landing.No damage or injuries reported; cause not statedDroneXL
2026-08-17Richmond, TXDeliveryPackage released from about 13 ft landed in the customer's swimming pool.No injuries; second pool delivery in a yearDroneXL
2026-02-04Richardson, TXCrashAircraft hit the side of an apartment building and landed on the sidewalk with propellers turning.Aircraft lost; no injuriesDroneXL
2025-11-18Waco, TXCrashAircraft clipped a residential internet cable 13 days after service launched.FAA probe; no injuriesDroneXL
2025-10-01Tolleson, AZCrashTwo aircraft struck the same construction crane boom minutes apart and came down in parking lots.Two aircraft lost; FAA/NTSB investigatingDroneXL
2025-10Tolleson, AZDeliveryEmergency landing on a residential sidewalk days after flights resumed.Aircraft recovered; no injuriesDroneXL
2024-12Pendleton, OR (test range)CrashTwo MK30s crashed in rain; sensor issue later identified. Nationwide pause in early 2025.Two aircraft lostDroneXL
8 rows. Descent in every collision: uncontrolled to the ground. Redundant motors address motor failure, not impact.
What Amazon reports
Stated totalScope, as statedAs ofSource
More than 70,000 flightsPeriod, geography and flight types not stated. Cited alongside two Detect-and-Avoid encounters with crewed aircraft.Aug. 19, 2026Amazon expansion announcement, via DroneXL

These are the operators' own totals, quoted on the date shown. Their periods and geographies do not match each other or the incident column, so no rate can be built from them, and DroneXL does not compute one. A figure is replaced when the operator states a newer one.

Questions for Amazon

Sent Sept. 3, 2026 · deadline Sept. 5 (round one) · Sept. 15 (rounds two and three) · 0 of 25
  1. 01
    FAA filings list the MK30 at 77.9 lb empty and 83.2 lb MTOW with a 5 lb payload. Zipline's P2 carries 8 lb at 55 lb empty; Wing's production aircraft carries 2.6 lb at about 12 lb. What drives the MK30's mass, and did Amazon evaluate a lighter airframe for the same 5 lb, 7.5-mile mission?
    No answer
  2. 02
    Does the MK30 carry a parachute or any ballistic recovery system? If not, was one evaluated, and why was it excluded?
    No answer
  3. 03
    After a mid-air collision with a fixed object, such as the crane in Tolleson, the cable in Waco or the building in Richardson, what is the MK30's designed descent behavior, and which systems remain functional?
    No answer
  4. 04
    What is the status of the FAA and NTSB investigation into the October 1, 2025 Tolleson crane strikes, and what changes did Amazon make to Detect-and-Avoid or operating procedures after Tolleson, Waco and Richardson?
    No answer
  5. 05
    Amazon's propeller redesign cut perceived noise by roughly half. Did Amazon test whether a smaller, lighter airframe with the same propeller design would be quieter still? What were the results?
    No answer
  6. 06
    Packages are released from about 13 feet. What does Amazon do to verify the drop zone is clear of water, people and pets, and what changed after the August 17 pool delivery in Richmond, Texas?
    No answer
  7. 07
    How many MK30 aircraft are in service today, and how many does Amazon expect to operate to serve nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of 2026?
    No answer
  8. 08
    Who is the on-the-record contact for DroneXL's future Prime Air coverage?
    No answer
Status

Every operator gets the same fifteen generic questions on the same terms: weight and payload, recovery system, collision behavior, single points of failure, delivery method, drop-zone checks, incident record, who gets the call, sound level, pitch, overflight frequency, cameras and data, liability, weather limits, and an engineer at the public meeting. Plus the specific set at left. Answers are published in full and this page is updated the day they arrive.

Amazon: sent Sept. 3, 2026, deadline Sept. 5 (round one) · Sept. 15 (rounds two and three). Result: 0 of 25. The 8 specific questions sent Sept. 3 went unanswered at the Sept. 5 deadline. Round two, the 15 generic questions, sent Sept. 8, plus two more on MK30 fleet flight hours and the aircraft's battery on Sept. 10, all due Sept. 15: nothing received by the deadline or since. DroneXL's Sept. 8 offer to correct its article on the FAA's national environmental finding also went unanswered.

For your town

The council handout is operator-neutral. The FAA controls the airspace and the certificate; your town controls the site's zoning and permits where a permit is required, and the public record it builds by asking.

How approval works

Amazon drones coming to your town? What residents can still do, and how to reach Amazon by phone and chat.

DroneXL coverage

Built from the archive at every deploy: every story with Amazon as its headline subject, or filed under its category
Sep 27, 2026
Amazon Won't Say When Tracy Drones Fly. It Said Within a Month
Sep 26, 2026
Amazon's Connecticut Drone Briefing Left No Trace in the Minutes
Sep 25, 2026
Amazon Drones Reach Cleveland Suburbs, 3 Miles From a Drone Pharmacy
Sep 25, 2026
Amazon Targets December for Jacksonville Drones, Pilot Says
Sep 25, 2026
Amazon Drones Head for Nearly 500 Towns. What Residents Can Still Do
Sep 25, 2026
Amazon MK30 Sets Down on a Waco Lawn Days After Baton Rouge
Sep 25, 2026
FCC Targets DJI Chips as Amazon Drones Swarm a Texas Suburb
Sep 24, 2026
Amazon Tells Packed Westborough Room Its Drones Are Coming Anyway
Sep 23, 2026
Amazon Preps Tallahassee Drone Hub. Florida Law Gives City Little Say
Sep 21, 2026
Amazon Wants Drones Over 6 Massachusetts Towns. Not All Have Been Told
Sep 21, 2026
Amazon Drones Overwhelm Texas Suburb, NYT Says. FAA Signed Off In July
Sep 20, 2026
Amazon Wants 1,000 Drone Flights a Day in CT. Comments Close Oct. 1
Sep 20, 2026
Amazon Drones Drop Packages Where State Law Calls It a Crime
Sep 19, 2026
Amazon Plans Portland Drone Hub in a State That Fought FAA Review
Sep 15, 2026
Amazon Moved Omaha Drone Routes for Eagles as Neighbors Complain

Primary sources

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