Amazon's drones won't be making deliveries any time soon. According to BloombergThe company suspended all commercial drone deliveries to Texas and Arizona after a previously undisclosed event in which two Amazon MK30 drones crashed at the Pendleton, Oregon, airport it uses for testing. MK30 is the company's next-generation drone model that is lighter and has a longer range than its predecessor, the MK27. The incidents occurred in December: one of the drones even caught fire after falling. Amazon has reportedly determined that its drones crashed due to a software issue related to light drizzle while testing.
However, the company said the crashes were not the “primary reason” why it suspended drone deliveries. Amazon spokesman Sam Stevenson said this. Bloomberg that “changes to the drone's software are currently underway” and that the pause in operation is voluntary. After completing the upgrades, Amazon still needs to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before it can resume operations. “Employees at drone hosting sites who were notified of the action on Friday will continue to be paid during the pause,” Stevenson added.
In addition to the December crashes, two MK30 drones collided during another test a few months earlier. Stevenson explained that Amazon expects to see similar incidents during testing and that they will help the company improve the security of the service. Amazon has been shipping non-medical shipments using drones in Texas since 2022. adding a prescription drug a year later. Amazon stopped shipping drones to California in 2024, but also launched service in Phoenix, Arizona.