Safety
Two MK30 drones crashed during testing in rural Oregon. Their laser height sensors misread the altitude and the software shut off the propellers.
A crash, recall, injury or investigation
What the source says
“the drones’ lidar sensors misread altitude data, prompting the software to shut down the propellers.”
What it means
Prime Air (MK30), from Amazon, is at stage 4 of 5 on our ladder: paying customers. Safety events don't move a stage on their own, but they stay on the robot's record.
Human help: The maker hasn't said whether people help it remotely.
More on Prime Air (MK30)
- North Haven, Connecticut's top elected official said no decision on Amazon's plan for up to 1,000 Prime Air drone deliveries a day from its local warehouse would come until 2027.
- Massachusetts' aviation regulator told Amazon it cannot open a drone takeoff and landing site anywhere in the state without a state certificate, and that Amazon had not yet applied for one.
- Massachusetts' transportation department told Amazon in a letter that its proposed Prime Air drone delivery operation needed a state certificate of approval, and said it had received no application.
- Massachusetts' transportation department told Amazon it could not open a Prime Air drone pad in Westborough or elsewhere in the state without its certificate, and said Amazon had not applied.
- Amazon said Prime Air would start drone deliveries in Tallahassee, Florida, by mid-November, at a public showing of its MK30 drone; the building to house the drones was still under permit review.
- DroneXL reported that Amazon's hoped-for late-October start of Prime Air flights in Westborough, Massachusetts, had slipped, with a zoning appeal set for November 2 and a Planning Board hearing on November 10.