Amazon MK27 test drone crashes and starts field fire near Pendleton

What happened

In June 2021, an MK27 prototype delivery drone being flown by Amazon’s Prime Air program at its eastern Oregon test site lost motor power during a test flight. According to an FAA report later obtained by Business Insider and summarized by drone trade publications, the aircraft fell about 160 feet in an uncontrolled tumble and hit the ground.

The drone’s lithium battery burned intensely after impact and destroyed the aircraft. The fire spread into the surrounding wheat stubble and burned several acres before it was put out. No injuries were reported.

The FAA document also described a separate MK27 crash a few weeks earlier that followed a propeller failure.

The system involved

The MK27 was an experimental delivery drone weighing about 89 pounds that Amazon was developing and testing before it began customer deliveries. Amazon ran test flights from a range near Pendleton, Oregon. The company held an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate issued in August 2020.

Investigation and response

The FAA documented the crash in a report that redacted the operator’s name but identified the MK27 model. The event became public in March 2022 through Business Insider’s reporting.

Amazon told Business Insider that nobody had been injured or harmed in its flight tests, that tests were flown over closed ranges, and that no employee or community member had been at risk.

What is not established

The exact date in June 2021 was not given in the sources reviewed. The FAA report describes the burned area as several acres; some later reports cite figures of roughly 20 to 25 acres. The FAA report itself was not available to review directly; this entry relies on published descriptions of it.