An Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone crashed into an apartment building in Texas earlier this week, marking the second MK30-related incident in the state in the past three months.
Cessy Johnson, a local resident who shared video of the Wednesday incident with KDFW-TV, told the Dallas-Fort Worth Fox affiliate that she began filming the drone because she had never seen one in action.
Johnson’s recording shows the drone appearing to move slowly toward the side of the building in the suburb of Richardson, Texas. The video later shows what appear to be multiple pieces of debris falling to the ground. The drone’s propellers continue to spin as smoke appears to emanate from the wreckage.
“The propellers on the thing were still moving, and you could smell it was starting to burn,” Johnson said. “And you see a few sparks in one of my videos.”
The video later shows a fire truck arriving on scene and multiple people tending to the drone—which uses lithium-ion batteries for propulsion—on the ground. Per the TV station, firefighters reported that there was no blaze. Amazon said it is coordinating repairs on the building, which suffered minimal damage.
Prime Air began service in Richardson less than two months ago as part of a renewed expansion effort. It also serves customers in Tolleson, Arizona, and is adding locations in other parts of Texas, as well as in Missouri and Michigan.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and are actively investigating the cause of this incident,” a company spokesperson told FLYING.
Are Drones Ready for Part 108?
Prime Air’s flagship MK30 drone can carry up to 5 pounds while cruising at about 73 mph, with a service radius of 7.5 miles. It typically cruises at around 200-300 feet agl, receiving lift from six vertical propellers and cruising on staggered tandem wings. Packages are stored in the fuselage and dropped to the ground from about 13 feet up.
When they encounter unexpected weather conditions, obstacles, air traffic, or system failures, the drones are designed to initiate what Amazon calls a safe contingent landing (SCL). They switch from forward to vertical flight mode, using onboard perception systems to scan for a clear landing spot. Prime Air said the drone that crashed Wednesday was in vertical flight but did not mention the SCL procedure.
SCL was deployed in November after a different MK30 drone clipped an internet cable in nearby Waco. It suffered minor damage to its propellers upon landing, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) elected not to investigate.
The NTSB did, however, probe a pair of MK30 crashes in Tolleson in October. Per preliminary reports, the drones struck the same crane boom only a few minutes apart.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has cited the latter incident as evidence that the FAA is moving too quickly on its proposed Part 108 rule, which would greatly expand commercial drone operations by allowing detect and avoid systems to stand in for human observers. Currently, those privileges can only be obtained via waiver or exemption.
“While there were no injuries, the resulting debris fell into two nearby parking lots,” AOPA wrote in response to the FAA’s proposal. “The fact that two drones crashed within minutes of each other, into the same obstacle, would seem to indicate that a systemic problem exists that must be examined and addressed.”
The FAA in January made the atypical move of reopening public comments on the proposal, giving stakeholders until Wednesday to submit additional feedback.
