Amazon’s Prime Air autonomous drone delivery program has sought to postpone federal investigations into some of its drone crashes on the grounds that the company has the strength to investigate its own twist of fate, according to federal documents received through a public records request. The company also took time to hand over the destination’s spin data, according to the documents.
On at least two occasions, inspectors at the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates drone flights, were shocked to learn that Amazon had moved evidence of an accident, which an inspector said prevented at least one of the investigations, according to the documents. Some other investigation, Amazon told the FAA that the agency’s involvement is not necessary.
At least 8 Amazon drones have crashed in testing over the past year, Insider in the Beyond reported, adding one that sparked a 20-acre wildfire in eastern Oregon last June after the drone’s engines failed.
Taken together, the documents indicate that Amazon has at times rejected federal inspections of its experimental drone accidents. The findings come as the company seeks FAA approval to fly its drones in residential spaces ahead of a potential customer debut in mid-2024.
An Amazon spokesperson said Insider’s characterization of the FAA documents is “misleading and inaccurate. “
Prime Air “has complied with all reports of incidents, investigations and other applicable regulatory requirements,” spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. Allow ad deliveries, which shows that our entire procedure has reached the top bar of the FAA. “
Since its launch in 2013, Prime Air has been plagued by delays and missed deadlines. Recently, the department has been under pressure for results. Earlier this year, executives concluded that the seven years the team had spent in R
Prime Air Vice President David Carbon, a former Boeing executive, has spent the past two years pressuring the department to complete the checks needed to get regulatory approval for its autonomous drones. But conversion goals, common delays and a culture of conversion have led to low morale, worker burnout and a attrition rate of up to 70 percent on the company’s control team, Insider in the beyond reported. Some workers have left amid considerations about Prime Air’s protective culture, Bloomberg reported last month.
Amazon took so long to introduce its drone delivery program because its engineers “work to solve confusing problems and are committed to conducting extensive testing to make sure our drone delivery service is reliable. This means meeting the highest internal, technical and regulatory standards. “Nantel said.
To meet its timeline for revealing drone delivery through 2024, Amazon wants a set of FAA approvals over the next two years. The approvals would allow the drones to fly beyond the sight lines of Prime Air operators and observers, over cities and towns, and take off. and land near people, according to internal corporate documents received through Insider.
Getting those approvals requires the FAA to approve the protection of drones. Amazon, however, insisted that the FAA did want to be involved in investigating the cause of some of its drone crashes, according to public records.
Last July, Amazon told an FAA inspector that it had been sent to investigate the fate spin at Amazon’s drone verification site in Pendleton, Oregon, that the agency’s involvement was not mandatory because Amazon was conducting its own investigations of the fate’s turnaround. Inspector Jim Holden wrote in the accompanying notes. . a two turns of fate informs.
An FAA spokesman said the company has the ultimate authority to investigate plane crashes when it makes the decision that it is mandatory to do so. Amazon’s spokesman did not respond to questions about jurisdiction over investigations into fate spins.
The company also gave the impression of being reluctant to disclose the main points about the accidents, Holden wrote. In a report, he said he was still waiting for “photos and information” about a twist of fate a month after it occurred. Holden wrote in the same report that the Amazon representative tried to delay the inspection by saying he had an appointment with the dentist.
In a separate report, Holden noted that he asked to make a stopover at the crash site on the user to “remedy” Amazon’s “slow and cautious publication of incident details. “
Amazon “confused as to why we look at ‘drone crashes’ in such detail,” Holden wrote, speculating that “Amazon’s legal branch is likely communicating its considerations about our primary involvement directly to FAA headquarters staff. “An FAA spokesman declined to comment on the agency’s communications with Amazon. Holden reached out by phone and declined to answer questions.
Amazon disposed of the drone’s wreckage at least twice before the FAA could investigate, according to the documents. Last July, in a drone-like inspection that fell 120 feet from the sky, Holden asked to see the drone’s wreckage. the engine and propeller of the drone, the central and delicate parts of the machine. He reported that “the engineers got rid of the engine and propeller and sent them to Seattle for THEM to INVESTIGATE,” all in capital letters that deviate from the taste of the rest of their reports.
Two months earlier, Amazon had also disposed of the wreckage of a drone that had crashed due to a propeller failure. The investigation at the crash site “was not possible,” the inspector said in this case, reminding Amazon that debris from the crash “must not be disturbed or moved before the debris is released” through federal regulators.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company now has the ability to notify the FAA before moving the wreckage from the crash.
The engine and propeller have been the cause of many of Amazon’s recent drone crashes, according to seven federal crash reports reviewed through Insider, as well as two former Prime Air employees.
In last June’s crash, Amazon’s 89-pound drone fell 160 feet to the ground “in a loose fall out of control,” according to an FAA crash report. the terrain where the drone had crashed, the report added. The Municipal Branch of Fireplace Placeplace brought Fireplaceplaceplace under control, according to a Fireplaceplaceplace report of the incident.
Companies and regulators expect some experimental aircraft to conduct crash tests, where machines are pushed to the limit. “With rigorous testing like this, we expect such incidents to occur, and we apply the classes of each flight to improve overall safety. “Nantel. Amazon is testing its drones “in a controlled and unpopulated area,” Nantel said, and “no other person or asset was injured in the process. “
Internally, Prime Air recognizes that for autonomous drone delivery to materialize, consumers will need to understand that it’s safe. “Safety is Paramount” is the first of Prime Air’s seven organizational principles.
Prime Air’s first major public test of its features will take place this fall, when the company plans to begin providing Amazon packages to 1,300 check consumers in Texas and California. Previously, Prime Air only delivered packages to a handful of consumers as part of a small-scale pilot program, most commonly in Oregon.
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