FAA investigating after Amazon delivery drone incident in Texas

Amazon’s drone delivery program is facing renewed scrutiny after one of its latest-generation MK30 aircraft became ensnared in an overhead internet cable in Waco, Texas, before severing the wire and becoming disabled. The incident has prompted a federal investigation and adds to questions about the drone’s detect-and-avoid technology. 

The episode occurred on November 18, 2025, shortly after the drone had completed a delivery, according to statements provided by Amazon and confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The aircraft, identified as registration N139PA, was ascending from a customer’s yard when one of its propellers made contact with a thin overhead cable. The incident eventually cut the line and triggered the drone’s automated “safe contingent landing” sequence. The aircraft descended in a controlled manner and touched down without injuries or additional damage to the drone or property. 

Amazon said it paid to repair the damaged cable and apologized to the customer. The company emphasized that the line involved was an internet cable rather than a power line. Video of the incident shot by someone in a nearby vehicle appears to show the drone shearing the line and then performing an automated shutdown and controlled descent sequence. 

Media outlets including CNBC, Fox Business, and The Independent reported that the FAA is reviewing the incident, while the NTSB told those outlets it is aware of the event but has not opened an investigation. Amazon said it notified regulators after the drone clipped the cable and has not received any further inquiries from authorities.

The Waco collision is the third significant MK30 incident in two months and follows two separate crashes in Tolleson, Arizona, in early October 2025. In that case, two Prime Air drones struck the boom of a construction crane during operations, destroying both aircraft and temporarily halting Amazon’s drone deliveries in the area while the FAA and NTSB examined the events. 

Amazon has worked for more than a decade to bring founder Jeff Bezos’ original vision for rapid autonomous delivery to scale. The MK30, a hexacopter design, is the newest model in the Prime Air fleet and is intended to be smaller, lighter, and quieter than earlier versions. The company says the drones use sophisticated sense-and-avoid systems meant to detect obstacles both in the air and on the ground, but each of the recent incidents involved collisions with stationary objects that should, in theory, be detectable. 

The company expanded drone delivery service to Waco earlier in November 2025 for customers within a designated radius of its same-day delivery site. The service is currently limited to small packages weighing five pounds or less, with deliveries targeted to arrive in under an hour. The post FAA investigating after Amazon delivery drone incident in Texas appeared first on AeroTime.

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