This is the first time that an accident of this nature has occurred in the affected area.
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:54 am
Delivery drones are , on the face of it, extremely useful. Who wouldn't be tempted by the idea of having steaming hot food delivered to their doorstep by drone? However, the technology also has a cumbersome downside. In Australia, a food delivery drone recently caused a power outage that ended up affecting 2,000 people.
The drone in question paralyzed the electricity supply in the Australian region of Queensland after becoming entangled in the power lines.
According to Danny Donald, a spokesman for the power company Energex , " The drone landed on top of 11,000 volts, and although it did not lose power, the voltage was traced through to the drone and it caught fire and eventually fell to the ground."
Energex had to cut power for 45 minutes as a safety precaution , leaving more than 2,000 people without electricity in the Brown Plains region south of Brisbane.
The crashed drone is owned by Wing , a company focused on aerial delivery of food turkey number data and medicine that is a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet.
This is the first time that an accident of this nature has occurred in the area.
According to a Wing spokeswoman, the aircraft had to make a precautionary landing after becoming entangled in power lines . “We immediately informed Energex of the incident, which then went to the scene of the accident,” the spokeswoman added.
When Energex employees arrived at the scene of the accident, the drone had already burned out . And the food it was carrying was apparently still warm. Energex initially cut off power for 45 minutes to more than 2,000 people, but later extended the blackout to another 300 people who were left without power for three hours.
Wing has publicly expressed his guilt over the incident and promises to provide further clarification on the circumstances of the accident. "We are conducting an investigation into the incident," the community said.
In any case, the drone would not have caused permanent damage to the power lines. And if it had, Wind would have had to cover the repair costs.
“Fifteen years ago we asked people to be careful about what kites they gave to children for Christmas. Now we are asking parents to be extra cautious about where their children fly their drones,” said Danny Donald, spokesman for Energex.
The drone in question paralyzed the electricity supply in the Australian region of Queensland after becoming entangled in the power lines.
According to Danny Donald, a spokesman for the power company Energex , " The drone landed on top of 11,000 volts, and although it did not lose power, the voltage was traced through to the drone and it caught fire and eventually fell to the ground."
Energex had to cut power for 45 minutes as a safety precaution , leaving more than 2,000 people without electricity in the Brown Plains region south of Brisbane.
The crashed drone is owned by Wing , a company focused on aerial delivery of food turkey number data and medicine that is a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet.
This is the first time that an accident of this nature has occurred in the area.
According to a Wing spokeswoman, the aircraft had to make a precautionary landing after becoming entangled in power lines . “We immediately informed Energex of the incident, which then went to the scene of the accident,” the spokeswoman added.
When Energex employees arrived at the scene of the accident, the drone had already burned out . And the food it was carrying was apparently still warm. Energex initially cut off power for 45 minutes to more than 2,000 people, but later extended the blackout to another 300 people who were left without power for three hours.
Wing has publicly expressed his guilt over the incident and promises to provide further clarification on the circumstances of the accident. "We are conducting an investigation into the incident," the community said.
In any case, the drone would not have caused permanent damage to the power lines. And if it had, Wind would have had to cover the repair costs.
“Fifteen years ago we asked people to be careful about what kites they gave to children for Christmas. Now we are asking parents to be extra cautious about where their children fly their drones,” said Danny Donald, spokesman for Energex.