Amazon suspends drone deliveries in two states, citing safety needs

[Jack Aylmer]

FOR OVER A DECADE, AMAZON HAS BEEN WORKING TO DELIVER PACKAGES STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOORSTEP—BUT INSTEAD OF A DRIVER, THEY’VE BEEN BETTING ON DRONES.

BUT NOW, AMAZON’S ONE-HOUR DELIVERY PROMISE HAS BEEN DELAYED AGAIN WITH THE COMPANY SUSPENDING DRONE OPERATIONS IN TEXAS AND ARIZONA.

AMAZON’S ‘PRIME AIR’ SERVICE IS NOW ON PAUSE AFTER TWO NEWLY BUILT DRONES CRASHED DURING TESTING.

LIGHT RAIN AT AMAZON’S TESTING FACILITY IN OREGON LED TO THE MK30 DRONES TO MALFUNCTION AND CRASH–ONE EVEN CATCHING FIRE.

A SPOKESPERSON FOR AMAZON EXPLAINED “It’s designed to safely respond to unknown events in a known way, and the overall architecture of the drone has performed as expected.”

THIS COMES JUST AFTER AMAZON LAUNCHED A NEW FLEET OF DRONES AT THE END OF 2024, FOLLOWING TWO YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT.

A KEY PART OF THE PROCESS WAS ENSURING THE DRONES COULD OPERATE SAFELY IN LIGHT RAIN—THE VERY FACTOR THAT CAUSED THE ISSUE.

AMAZON CALLS THE PAUSE VOLUNTARY, INSISTING ITS NOT BECAUSE OF THE CRASHES BUT TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF THE DRONES

ITS PREVIOUS DRONES PROMPTED A SIMILAR PAUSE AFTER MULTIPLE CRASHES DUE TO BATTERY FAILURES AND POWER ISSUES.

IN 2013, AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS UNVEILED PLANS TO DELIVER PACKAGES TO HALF A BILLION CUSTOMERS USING DRONES.

PROGRESS HAS BEEN SLOW BUT STEADY: THE COMPANY STARTED DRONE DELIVERIES IN TEXAS IN 2022, EXPANDED TO PRESCRIPTIONS IN 2023, AND ADDED ARIZONA TO THE LIST LAST YEAR.

AMAZON ENDED ITS DRONE DELIVERY PROGRAM IN CALIFORNIA LAST SPRING BUT SAYS THEY PLAN TO CONTINUE MOVING INTO NEW CITIES BY THE END OF 2025.

AMAZON DELIVERIES WILL TAKE FLIGHT ONCE AGAIN AFTER THE F-A-A APPROVES SOFTWARE UPDATES TO THE DRONES.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M JACK AYLMER