Amazon Drone Crashes

Amazon paused its Prime Air drone delivery program after two MK30 drones crashed during testing in December 2024 at its Oregon facility. The crashes, reported by Bloomberg on May 16, 2025, were caused by faulty LiDAR sensors, which incorrectly indicated the drones had landed, leading them to cut power to their propellers mid-flight and plummet. The first drone crashed after dropping a package, ascending to 217 feet, and then falling, while the second crashed four minutes later at 183 feet. These incidents follow a history of challenges for Amazon’s drone program, including a 2021 crash that caused a fire and ongoing sensor issues in dusty environments. The MK30, designed to fly at 67 mph and deliver packages up to 7.5 miles, removed physical “squat switches” used in the earlier MK27 model for landing confirmation, relying instead on a camera and avionics system. This cost- and weight-saving redesign may have reduced redundancy, contributing to the crashes. The FAA approved software updates on March 12, 2025, to address altitude-sensing issues, but Amazon provided limited details on fixes.

Reason for Crashes: The primary reason was faulty LiDAR sensors that falsely signalled the drones had landed, causing them to shut off their propellers mid-flight. The MK30’s redesigned sensor system, which eliminated backup physical switches to detect landing present in the MK27, relied solely on a camera and avionics, making it vulnerable to erroneous LiDAR readings. This lack of redundancy, likely implemented to simplify production and reduce costs, removed a critical failsafe, leading to the crashes.

source: www.dronexl.co