Right now, an Amazon Prime Air MK30 drone arrived unannounced in a residential backyard in Darlington, County Durham, England.
I don’t need to say we informed you so, however we informed you so. Its been a protracted working subject of debate on our Tuesday chats. (21:00 GMT Drone and Sundry channel). By likelihood two weeks in the past we had a really candid chat with Bobby Healy of Manna Air Supply, I’ll put his full video bit down under. However in brief:-
Bobby informed us that his Manna has accomplished over 400,000 deliveries in difficult climate situations in Eire, boasting a security report that surpasses floor transport strategies like e-bikes and motorbikes. As a result of they’re held to stricter requirements than floor autos, the drones function utilizing conservative threat calculations to keep up distinctive security ranges. The plane are designed with excessive redundancy, using three separate flight management Cubepilot Cubes that talk by means of a {hardware} voting system. If a important concern happens, the drones are programmed to robotically deploy a parachute. He clearly stated tons greater than that and was as he at all times is, very beneficiant along with his time. Bobby tells us how it’s truthfully, warts and all.
Distinction that with an Amazon consultant who marched right into a tent at Farnborough Airshow, 2010 I believe it was, stated they might run UK decrease airspace that is what it’s going to seem like, no questions please and was off. The tent stuffed with CAA and NATS representatives and me was left considerably surprised. I doubt if any of them nonetheless work in these locations. The rationale I say that’s as a result of the CAA appears to have bent the knee to Amazon and has allow them to in and closed airspace with little or no friction. The folks that have signed them off can’t have been in that tent.
It’s not Amazons first off,
Could 2021 — Pendleton, Oregon (Take a look at Vary)
Plane: MK27 prototype
Incident: Propeller Failure
Particulars: Throughout experimental testing at Amazon’s rural testing vary, an 89-pound prototype drone suffered a propeller failure and plummeted to the bottom in an uncontrolled state.
June 2021 — Pendleton, Oregon (Take a look at Vary)
Plane: MK27 prototype
Incident: Motor Failure and 20-Acre Brush Fireplace
Particulars: Whereas flying at an altitude of 160 ft, the drone skilled motor failure and went right into a tailspin. Upon affect, the onboard lithium-ion battery ruptured and burst into flames, sparking a hearth that consumed roughly 20 acres of wheat area earlier than native firefighters extinguished it.
July 2021 — Pendleton, Oregon (Take a look at Vary)
Plane: MK27 prototype
Incident: In-Flight Motor Drop
Particulars: A check drone dropped 120 ft out of the sky as a consequence of {hardware} failure. FAA documentation later revealed that no less than eight check drones crashed in a 12-month interval between 2021 and 2022 as Amazon pushed its programs to operational limits.
December 16, 2024 — Oregon Take a look at Facility
Plane: MK30 supply drones
Incident: Twin Mid-Air Energy Minimize (LiDAR Sensor Glitch)
Particulars: At an altitude of 217 ft, an MK30 drone accomplished a mock bundle drop, ascended, after which abruptly minimize energy to its six propellers mid-air, crashing into the bottom. Simply 4 minutes later, a second MK30 flying at 183 ft over a taxiway suffered the very same failure. NTSB investigations revealed {that a} software program replace made onboard LiDAR altitude sensors weak to gentle rain. The sensors misinterpret the altitude knowledge, main the drone’s software program to mistakenly consider it had touched down, which triggered a right away motor shutdown. Amazon quickly paused testing operations till the FAA accredited a software program patch in March 2025.
October 1, 2025 — Tolleson, Arizona
Plane: MK30 supply drones
Incident: Twin Development Crane Collision and Battery Fireplace
Particulars: Two MK30 supply drones struck the growth of the identical lively building crane inside minutes of one another. The collisions smashed each plane, inflicting a battery to eject and catch hearth on affect. One bystander was evaluated by emergency personnel for smoke inhalation, and the occasion prompted joint investigations by the NTSB and FAA.
November 2025 — Waco, Texas
Plane: MK30 supply drone
Incident: Cable Strike
Particulars: Simply 13 days after launching industrial supply service within the space, an MK30 drone severed an overhead residential web cable throughout its post-delivery vertical ascent.
February 4, 2026 — Richardson, Texas (Dallas Suburb)
Plane: MK30 supply drone
Incident: House Constructing Collision
Particulars: Whereas en path to a supply, an MK30 drone collided with the aspect of an residence constructing on Routh Creek Parkway. The plane shattered and fell onto a public sidewalk under, the place it started sparking and emitting heavy smoke with its propellers nonetheless spinning. Firefighters arrived on the scene to make sure the battery didn’t ignite a structural hearth, and Amazon crews safely retrieved the wreckage. No accidents have been reported.
Might need been extra and AI can’t discover them for me. However this incident to me will not be not like the 2019 Alauda Airspeeder crash, at Goodwood, the place the 95kg racing drone misplaced management shot up by means of the airways system after which gravity received.
It result in an AAIB investigation that criticized the CAA’s dealing with of operator security circumstances. Extra worrying on the time on one among our Tuesday chats I discovered that I had all of the flight tools they used on my desk and in a few attracts. Any inspector really from the business would have recognized what they have been taking a look at after they inspected that airframe.
That is certainly how the CAA, AAIB and Amazon will deal with this incident.
That chat with Bobby Healy. We’re very fortunate to get a lot time with him.
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