Amazon delivery drone crashes, sparks 25-acre fire

An Amazon Prime Air delivery drone on a test flight crashed into a field in eastern Oregon, setting on fire 25 acres of wheat. According to a report by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the drone's motor shut off as it mov ed from an upward flight path to a level one, with two safety features failing - one that is me ant to land a MK27 drone during an incident , and another that stabili s es it . The drone flipped upside down and tumbled 'in uncontrolled free fall until it contacted the ground.' This was followed by an 'intense lithium battery fire quickly [that] consumed the aircraft ' and resulted in a 25-acre bushfire. According to Bloomberg , Amazon Prime Air drones crashed five times in four months in 2021 at the company’s testing site in Pendleton, Oregon. These included a crash in which a drone had lost its propeller, which the FAA was unable to investigate as Amazon had reportedly cleaned up the wreckage before the regulator arrived on the scene. And a March 2023 Insider report claimed Amazon tried to put off federal investigations into its drone crashes by claiming that it had the authority to investigate its own crashes, according to federal documents obtained through an FOI request. The FAA responded by saying the agency is able to investigate aircraft crashes when it decides it is necessary to do so. Amazon responded to the Oregon field fire crash by saying that it's drone test flights have never injured or harmed anyone. System 🤖 MK27 drone Operator: Amazon/Prime Air Developer: Amazon/Prime Air Country: USA Sector: Trans port/logistics Purpose: Deliver products Technology: Drone Issue: Robustness; Safety; Environment

Date it happened

2021-06-01

Organisation involved

Amazon/Prime Air

Product, system or model

MK27

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.