

But changing goals, frequent delays, and a shifting culture has led to low morale, employee burnout, and an attrition rate as high as 70% on the company's test team, Insider previously reported.

Prime Air VP David Carbon, a former Boeing executive, has spent the past two years pushing the division to complete testing needed to obtain regulatory approval for its autonomous drones. These findings come as the company seeks FAA approval to fly its drones in residential areas ahead of a potential mid-2024 customer debut. Taken together, the documents suggest that Amazon has at times begrudged federal inspections of its experimental drone crashes. During another investigation, Amazon told the FAA that the agency's involvement was unnecessary.Īt least eight Amazon drones crashed during testing in the past year, Insider previously reported, including one that sparked a 20-acre brush fire in eastern Oregon last June after the drone's motors failed. On at least two occasions, inspectors for the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates drone flights, were surprised to learn that Amazon had moved crash evidence, which an inspector said inhibited at least one of the investigations, according to the documents. The company has also been slow to turn over data related to crashes, the documents show. It often indicates a user profile.Īmazon's Prime Air autonomous drone delivery program has tried to put off federal investigations into some of its drone crashes by claiming that the company has the authority to investigate its own crashes, according to federal documents obtained through a public records request. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
