Amazon drone deliveries resume in Arizona after two crash into a crane

[midian182]

In brief: Amazon's drone deliveries are restarting in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area today after the service was suspended following an accident. Two Prime Air delivery drones crashed into a crane in Arizona, resulting in heavy damage and a fire. Nobody was injured, but one man was treated for smoke inhalation from the wreckage.

At around 10am local time on Wednesday, two of Amazon Prime Air's MK30 drones crashed into a crane in Tolleson, Arizona, near Phoenix, according to the FAA.

Gabriel Dahlberg, who witnessed one of the crashes from a nearby lot, said the drone clipped the cable of a crane that was being used to lift equipment onto a building.

According to the police investigation, the two drones were flying back-to-back when both hit the crane. They landed on the ground approximately 100 to 200 feet apart in separate parking lots.

There was "substantial" damage to the two 80-pound drones. The FAA said it was investigating the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation and expects the preliminary report to be ready within 30 days.

Amazon decided to suspend all drone deliveries for two days following the crash while it conducted an internal review. Company spokesperson Terrence Clark told CNN that following the conclusion of the investigation, it is confident that there wasn't an issue with the drones or the technology that supports them.

Clark added that despite the drones and their technology not being at fault, Amazon has introduced additional safety measures such as enhanced visual landscape inspections to better monitor for moving obstructions such as cranes.

Amazon started its same-day drone delivery service in Tolleson last November, enabling nearby customers to receive packages weighing less than five pounds in under an hour.

Amazon says its Prime Air engineering team spent nearly two years developing the MK30. The drones use sense and avoid technology that allows them to detect and avoid obstacles including people, pets, and property – it's unclear how two of them managed to hit a crane. Amazon also boasts that the drones have innovative safety-critical features, are quieter than previous models, and can fly twice as far.

Permalink to story:

Amazon drone deliveries resume in Arizona after two crash into a crane

 

[Dr Roboto]

Clark added that despite the drones and their technology not being at fault

.
WTF does this mean? The drones flew into a crane. They did not see it or avoid it. So it was the crane's fault? Do cranes now need to file flight plans with the FAA?

 

[toooooot]

"it's unclear how two of them managed to hit a crane"
Electronics, sensors fail. This is the main reason people do not want these to fly over their heads.
Plane undergone huge upgrades for safety, billions poured into more reliable and lasting systems.
Did mister Bezos spend billions to make these things impossible to fail? Probably not.

 

[Gars]

The first hited the crane, then the crane hited back and got the second too
win win

 

[p51d007]

I've been flying UAV's for over 5 years. One thing I do BEFORE flight is to check the area I'm flying so it is devoid of PEOPLE, check for power lines or other obstructions. THEN I check flight radar 24. Not so much for FIXED wing, but for medical helicopters which can pop out anywhere! Typically, I'm between 150-200 feet AGL. Our legal limit is 400 feet AGL. Other than it hitting the "cable" of the crane, you would think they would map out an area & fly ABOVE the "average" height of something like this. I'm not sure what flight altitude the are allowed to fly, but I would also think they would be broadcasting ADS-B just to make sure if there are fixed or rotary wing aircraft, they would pick them up on their systems.

 

[NumberNine]

Bezos and those deep pockets.

FAA: Your drones crashed into privately owned construction equipment on a jobsite. Why?

Amazon: I don't know. We make so much money.

FAA: Okay then. You may continue.

 

[human7]

"Gabriel Dahlberg, who witnessed one of the crashes from a nearby lot, said the drone clipped the cable of a crane that was being used to lift equipment onto a building."

Cables and wires are hard to see, they have taken many lives in aviation. I disagree with the claim that the technology is not at fault (better tech would certainly help), but I can also see the FAA and Amazon using procedural improvements as the primary remedy here (better attention to NOTAMs, if there were any issued for the crane, and the like), rather than a technology that is better able to detect wires.