Amazon’s new MK30 Prime Air drone is on display during Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event held at the company’s robotics research and development hub BFI1 Fulfillment Center in Sumner, Washington on October 18, 2023.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Amazon The company is facing a federal investigation after one of its delivery drones cut internet cables in central Texas last week.
The study comes as Amazon struggles to expand drone delivery to more parts of the country, more than a decade after it first envisioned its air delivery program, and faces greater competition from the United States. walmartwe have also started drone delivery.
The incident occurred on November 18 at approximately 12:45 p.m. at Central in Waco, Texas. An Amazon MK30 drone was rising from a customer’s yard after dropping off a package when one of its six propellers became tangled in a nearby internet cable, according to a video of the incident seen and reviewed by CNBC.
Video shows an Amazon drone cutting power lines. The drone’s motors then appeared to shut down and the aircraft landed automatically, with the propellers windmilling slightly on the way, the video shows. The drone appeared to be intact, although there was some damage to one of its propellers.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, a spokesperson confirmed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is aware of the incident but has not begun an investigation into the matter.
Amazon confirmed the incident to CNBC, saying that after cutting internet cables, it conducted a “safe accidental landing,” a process that allows the drone to land safely in unforeseen circumstances.
“There were no injuries or widespread internet service outages. We paid for repairs to customers’ cable lines and apologized for the inconvenience this caused,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC, adding that the drone had completed the delivery.
The incident comes after federal investigators opened a separate investigation into a crash involving two Amazon Prime Air drones in Arizona last month. The two planes collided with a construction crane in Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix, prompting Amazon to temporarily suspend drone deliveries in the area.
For more than a decade, Amazon has been working to realize founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of drones delivering toothpaste, books and other products to customers’ doorsteps within 30 minutes. The company began delivering drone deliveries in College Station, Texas, and Rockford, California in 2022.
But progress has been slowed by regulatory hurdles, missed deadlines, and layoffs in 2023 that coincide with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s broader cost-cutting efforts.
The company previously said its goal was to deliver 500 million packages a year by drone by the end of 2010.
The latest generation of Amazon’s Prime Air drones, the hexacopter-shaped MK30, is intended to be quieter, smaller, and lighter than previous versions.
Amazon says the drone is equipped with a sense-and-avoid system that allows it to “detect and move away from obstacles in the air and on the ground.” The company recommends customers maintain “approximately 10 feet of clear space” on their premises to allow drones to complete deliveries.
Earlier this month, the company began offering drone deliveries in Waco to customers ordering eligible items weighing 5 pounds or less within a radius of its same-day delivery site. Drone delivery is expected to deliver packages within an hour.
Amazon has brought other locations online in recent months, including Kansas City, Missouri, Pontiac, Michigan, San Antonio, Texas, and Ruskin, Florida. Amazon also announced plans to expand drone deliveries to Richardson, Texas.
Walmart began offering drone delivery in 2021 and currently partners with: of the alphabet Wing and venture-backed startup Zipline provide drone deliveries in many states, including Texas.
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