- Tech
‘This was not a crash,’ says Amazon spokesperson
Anthony CuthbertsonThursday 27 November 2025 10:47 GMTComments
An Amazon Prime Air delivery drone pictured during a flight test in March 2019 (Amazon)
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox
Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter
Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter
Email*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
Amazon is under investigation after one of its delivery drones reportedly crashed into an overhead internet cable in Texas.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is probing the retail giant’s Prime Air delivery service after the incident in Waco last week.
"A MK30 drone struck a wire line in Waco, Texas, around 12:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday, 18 November," the regulator said in a statement, adding that it "is investigating" this incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the agency is not investigating the incident.
An Amazon spokesperson issued a statement saying: “This was not a crash.”
On 18 November, after completing a delivery, a drone clipped a thin, overhead internet cable then performed a "Safe Contingent Landing," as designed, the spokesperson said, adding that "there were no injuries or widespread internet service outages."
Video footage reviewed by CNBC, which first reported the incident, showed one of Amazon's MK30 drones ascending from a customer's yard when one of its six propellers became entangled in a utility line. The drone's motors subsequently shut down, resulting in a controlled descent.
This comes after the NTSB and FAA said in October that they would investigate a separate incident in which two Amazon Prime Air drones collided with a crane boom in Arizona.
Amazon began delivering prescription medications by drones in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy to customers in College Station, Texas in 2023.
The e-commerce firm aims to deliver 500 million packages annually by drone by the end of 2030.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced plans to launch its first UK drone delivery service from its fulfilment centre in Darlington, Durham.
If successful, Amazon said there would be a wider rollout across the country, pending planning permission and authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
“We are ready and excited to make drone delivery a reality for our UK customers,” a spokesperson said at the time.
“We have built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close partnership with regulators and the communities we serve, and we are working to do the same in the UK.”
Additional reporting from agencies.
More about
AmazonJoin our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments
