Amazon Delivery Drone Crashes into Texas Apartment Building

Source: Slashdot

Incident Overview

A delivery drone operated by Amazon crashed into an apartment building in Texas. Witnesses reported hearing the hum of the drone before its propellers struck the structure, causing parts of the drone to fall to the ground amid smoke. Amazon stated that the damage to the building was minimal and that they are coordinating repairs with the appropriate parties.

Eyewitness Account

Cesarina Johnson captured the collision from her window. She told USA TODAY that the impact occurred “almost immediately” after she began recording the drone in flight.

“The propellers on the thing were still moving, and you could smell it was starting to burn,” Johnson said to Fox 4 News. “You see a few sparks in one of my videos. Luckily, nothing really caught on fire where it hit; it escalated really crazy.”

Johnson noted that people were standing outside at the time, and the falling drone could have injured them.

Firefighter Response

Firefighters were called to the scene as a precaution, but the drone never ignited. Amazon employees arrived shortly after, and together with the firefighters they cleared the debris before loading the damaged drone onto a truck for transport.

Amazon’s Drone Delivery Program

A local news report highlighted that Amazon only began offering drone deliveries in the area late last year.

Regulatory Investigation

The San Antonio Express‑News reported that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened an investigation into Amazon’s drone delivery program in November after a separate incident in which a drone struck an internet cable line in Waco.