Amazon must complete 7,000 test flights as part of a federal regulatory requirement for durability and reliability. According to an internal document, it had hoped to complete nearly all of them by the end of July.
So far, the company has completed 3,000 flights — but none count toward the requirement because the FAA has yet to approve the tests, sources told Insider.
Amazon heavily disputed the claim that the FAA refused to sign off on test flights, calling the statements shared with Insider “wrong or purposely misleading.”
“Prime Air complies with all FAA requirements,” Maria Boschetti, an Amazon spokesperson, told Modern Shipper. “For example, the FAA has not counted any of the D&R [durability and reliability] campaign hours because that part of the broader type certification process has not started yet. It is false to claim the FAA has declined to sign off on it. In addition, we’re on track to launch our commercial operations — which are very much distinct from our experimental flight testing — in College Station and Lockeford later this year.”
Two current FAA employees told Insider the agency is withholding approval in part due to concerns about crashes. A person with knowledge of a crash that took place July 2 said the drone “just blew apart when it hit the ground.” According to an FAA report Insider viewed, the drone hurtled 180 feet out of the sky.
Another current employee said the FAA has questioned whether all of Amazon’s drones meet the written specifications the company has provided.
All told, the regulatory holdup will put the drone delivery service months behind schedule. It’s just the latest in a string of setbacks that have plagued Amazon for years and kept the program taxiing on the runway.
Humanitarian Drone Deliveries
Meanwhile, Amazon’s rivals have taken Bezos’ idea and flown with it.
Amazon may have taken two steps forward with the news that its drone delivery service would be flying in California and Texas. But if reports about the FAA’s hesitancy are true, it also just took one giant step back.
