Hey news enthusiasts! 🎉 Two Amazon Prime Air delivery drones collided with crane booms in Tolleson, Arizona, and now the FAA and NTSB are on the case. 🚁🔍
On Thursday, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration announced they would investigate the midair mishaps. Both drones struck the boom of a construction crane just a day after Amazon kicked off its drone service in the West Valley of Phoenix.
Amazon began zipping small packages (under 5 pounds) to customers in November 2024, promising same-day arrivals in under an hour. But after Thursday’s crashes, the company paused flights—only to resume operations the very next day.
“Safety is our top priority,” said Amazon spokesperson Terrence Clark. They’ve completed an internal review and rolled out extra checks, including enhanced visual landscape inspections to spot moving obstructions like cranes. 👀🏗️
Looking ahead, Amazon wants to deliver 500 million packages by drone annually by 2030. The retailer has already experimented with flying prescription meds to College Station, Texas, in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Transportation Department is drafting new rules to let drones fly beyond the visual line of sight—an essential step for large-scale delivery services. “You may change the way you get your Amazon package, you may get a Starbucks cup of coffee from a drone,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
As drone tech soars, incidents like these highlight the challenges of sharing urban airspace. Stay tuned for more updates on how regulators and companies will keep our skies safe and our deliveries speedy! 🌐✨
Reference(s):
Two Amazon delivery drone crashes under federal investigation
cgtn.com
