According to federal documents obtained through a public records request, Amazon has tried to put off federal investigations into some of its drone crashes by claiming that it has the authority to investigate its own crashes. The documents show that the company has been slow to turn over data related to crashes.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates drones, was surprised to learn that Amazon had moved crash evidence, which an inspector said would make one of the investigations difficult. Amazon told the FAA that its involvement was unnecessary.
Insider previously reported that at least eight Amazon drones crashed during testing in the past year, including one that sparked a 20-acre brush fire in eastern Oregon.
According to the documents, Amazon is sometimes begrudged federal inspections of its experimental drones. As the company seeks FAA approval to fly its drones in residential areas ahead of a potential mid-2024) customer debut, the findings come as a result.
The company told FAA officials in a call earlier this year that regulatory delays could disrupt the timetable.
Insider's characterization of the FAA documents was misleading and inaccurate.
The FAA has never taken an enforcement action against Prime Air over the last seven years.
Prime Air has been beset by delays and missed deadlines. The division is under pressure to deliver. Insider previously reported that executives concluded the seven years the team had spent on R&D had failed to produce a delivery service that could be safely operated over populated areas.
David Carbon, a former Boeing executive, has spent the past two years pushing the division to complete testing needed to get regulatory approval for its drones. Changing goals, frequent delays, and a shifting culture has led to low employee satisfaction and an attrition rate as high as 70% on the company's test team. Some employees have left due to concerns about the safety culture at Prime Air.
Amazon has taken a long time to reveal its drone delivery program because its engineers are working to solve complicated problems and are committed to extensive testing to ensure the service is safe and reliable. It involves meeting very high internal, technical, and regulatory bars.
Amazon needs a suite of FAA approvals within the next two years to adhere to its timetable of drone delivery. According to internal company documents obtained by Insider, the approvals would allow the drones to fly beyond the sight-lines of Prime Air operators and observers, over cities and towns, and to take off and land in close proximity to people.
The FAA must sign off on the safety of the drones. According to public records, Amazon insisted that the FAA did not need to be involved in investigating the cause of some of its drones crashes.
The FAA inspector who was sent to investigate crashes at Amazon's drone test site in Oregon was told by the company that the agency's involvement was unnecessary because it was conducting its own crash investigations.
The FAA has ultimate authority to investigate aircraft crashes, according to an FAA spokesman. Questions about jurisdiction over crash investigations were not answered by Amazon.
The company didn't release details about crashes. He noted in one report that he was still waiting for photos and information about a crash a month after it happened. The crash inspection was put off by an Amazon representative who said he had a dentist appointment.
In a separate report, he noted that he was compelled to make an in-person visit to the crash site in order to bemedy Amazon's slow and cautious release of details about incidents.
Amazon was confused as to why we are looking into drone crashes, in so much detail, and likely communicated their concerns to FAA Headquarters personnel. Reached by phone, he wouldn't answer questions.
According to the documents, at least two times Amazon removed drone debris before the FAA could investigate. The remains of the drone's motor and propeller, central and sensitive parts, were asked to be seen by Holden during an inspection last July. He reported that the motor and propeller had been removed by the engineers and sent to Seattle for investigation, a departure from the style of the rest of his reports.
Amazon removed the wreck of a crashed drone two months ago. The inspector noted in that instance that it was not possible to investigate the crash site, and reminded Amazon that crash debris should not be disturbed or moved until after federal regulators have finished their work.
An Amazon spokesman said that the company now tells the FAA before moving crash debris.
According to seven federal crash reports reviewed by Insider, motor and propeller failures have been the cause of many of Amazon's recent drone crashes.
According to an FAA crash report, Amazon's 89-pound drone plummeted 160 feet to the ground in a fiery crash last June. The report said that an intense battery fire quickly consumed the aircraft, and the fire spread to the field where the drone had crash-landed. According to the fire report, the fire was contained by the municipal fire department.
Companies and regulators expect some experimental aircraft to crash during testing, where the machines are pushed to their limits. Amazon tests its drones over a controlled, unpopulated area, and no people or property were harmed in the process.
Prime Air understands that in order for drones to be used for delivery, customers need to feel safe.
The first major public-facing test of Prime Air's capabilities comes this fall, when the company expects to begin dropping Amazon packages to 1,300 test customers in Texas and California. Prime Air only delivered packages to a few customers in a small-scale pilot program.
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