Amazon delivery drone sparked fire when it crashed into Oregon field, says FAA

Amazon says that Prime Air drone test flights have never injured or harmed anyone

An Amazon delivery drone sparked a blaze when it crashed into an Oregon field during a failed test flight, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report.

The fire broke out after the company’s drone fell 160ft to the ground when its motors failed during the June test flight.

The report redacted Amazon’s name and made reference to the MK27 drone, which is the code of Amazon’s Prime Air delivery drone, according to Business Insider.

The report states that a video shows the drone “tumbling in uncontrolled free fall until it contacted the ground” and that the result was “several acres of wheat stubble field were soon on fire”.

A report from last May does not redact Amazon’s name when describing another MK27 drone crash, according to Business Insider.

Prime Air was launched in 2013 and Amazon has been testing deliveries, but the programme has not been made widely available yet.

Meanwhile, Google’s Wing drone delivery service has already carried out more than 200,000 deliveries.

Amazon said in a statement that the company’s drone test flights have never injured or harmed anyone.

“Prime Air’s number one priority is safety. We conduct extensive testing to gather data that continually improves the safety and reliability of our systems and operations. During these tests our drones fly over sterile ranges to ensure our employees are safe from potential injury,” Amazon spokesperson Av Zammit told The Independent.

“We follow thorough procedures on how flight tests are conducted and how we respond to any incident. In this instance, we carried out a test with the utmost caution, as is normal in the aviation industry.

“No employee or community member was at risk and the team followed all appropriate safety procedures and reporting requirements.”

This article was amended on 25 March 2022. It originally stated that Prime Air was yet to make a successful delivery, but Amazon says it has made some deliveries.