Amazon halts drone deliveries in Arizona after a pair crashed into a crane

Amazon has paused drone deliveries successful the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area aft a brace of its MK30 drones collapsed into a crane. The clang happened connected Wednesday greeting astatine astir 10AM section clip successful Tolleson, Arizona, astir 2 miles from an Amazon distribution halfway wherever the drones motorboat and land. There were nary injuries reported, but according to a study by ABC15 Arizona news successful Phoenix, 1 man was treated for fume inhalation from the wreckage.

Gabriel Dahlberg, a diesel mechanic who witnessed 1 of the crashes from a adjacent batch while parking a truck, told KPNX’s 12 News that the drone clipped the cablegram of the crane that was being utilized to assistance instrumentality onto a building. According to Sergeant Erik Mendez of the Tolleson Police Department, the preliminary investigation showed that the 2 Amazon drones were flying backmost to backmost erstwhile some collapsed into the crane and landed astir 100 to 200 feet isolated successful abstracted parking lots.

Local occurrence and constabulary departments responded to the incident, but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it will analyse the incident pinch Amazon’s cooperation. “We’re alert of an incident involving 2 Prime Air drones successful Tolleson, Arizona. We’re presently moving pinch the applicable authorities to investigate,” Amazon spokesperson Terrence Clark told The Verge successful an emailed statement.