(Credit: Amazon)
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Two of Amazon's MK30 Prime Air delivery drones crashed into a crane in Arizona on Wednesday.
No injuries were reported, but the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. "Two MK30 drones collided with the boom of a crane in Tolleson, Arizona, around 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Oct. 1," the FAA said in a brief statement.
The crashes took place back-to-back. An eyewitness tells 12 News that the drones clipped the crane's cable and plummeted to the ground. According to Tolleson police, one drone fell in the same parking lot as the crane; the other fell in the parking lot 100-200 feet away.
The drones caught fire after crashing, according to the FAA, and Tolleson police arrived at the scene with multiple fire crews. One person at the scene was also treated for smoke inhalation.
Amazon had paused drone deliveries in Tolleson after the incident, but says it will "resume drone delivery in Tolleson [on Friday] while continuing to support ongoing reviews by relevant agencies. We've completed our own internal review of this incident and are confident that there wasn't an issue with the drones or the technology that supports them."
The MK30s were launched in Tolleson, Arizona, and College Station, Texas, last November. At the time, Amazon said the drone was capable of detecting and navigating around obstacles like trampolines or clotheslines, and its algorithm was trained to "accurately identify objects like humans, animals, obstacles, and other aircraft."
However, multiple crashes were reported during tests in Texas, Oregon, and Arizona, forcing the company to temporarily pause drone deliveries across the US in January.