Drone delivery hopefuls will have to wait a bit longer because Amazon is putting its project on hold after two of its MK30 drones crashed at Pendleton Airport. The tech giant was running tests from its facility at the Oregon airport with commercial deliveries to Texas and Arizona.
The company claims the project is not being halted because of the crashes but rather for some “software changes.”
Amazon drones itself out
The MK3o is the online delivery giant’s next-gen drone model. It’s lighter than its predecessors and has a longer range. Following the previously undisclosed crashes, Bloomberg reports that the tech behemoth has paused all commercial delivery tests. The company has been shipping non-medical products in Texas since 2022. In 2024 it paused deliveries in California and launched in Phoenix, Arizona.
The most recent collision (that we know of) took place sometime in December last year, with one of the drones even catching fire after crashing. Amazon reportedly determined the crash was caused by a software issue related to the light rain drizzling while the tests were run.
Amazon emphasises that the crashes weren’t the “primary reason” for putting its drone delivery project on hold. Spokesperson Sam Stephenson told Bloomberg that the company is “currently in the process of making software changes to the drone” and that the pause to operations is voluntary. When updates are complete, Amazon will have to secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before it can get the project back on the road.
A few months before the December crashes, another two MK30 drones collided during a test. Stephenson says the company expects incidents like these to occur during testing, and that they help it improve the service’s safety.
