Drone crash - Facebook`s Aquila down - Curt Lewis

Facebook's Drone Crash Prompts Safety Investigation
Giant drone, called Aquila, experienced a "structural failure" during a test flight on June 28, according to the NTSB

Aquila, an unmanned aerial vehicle designed by Facebook, on the runway in Yuma, Arizona, in June. According to Facebook, Aquila is a solar-powered airplane that can be used to bring internet to millions of people in the hardest-to-reach places. ENLARGE


A U.S. air-safety watchdog is investigating an accident during the first flight of a Facebook Inc. drone designed to extend internet access.

The giant drone, called Aquila, experienced a "structural failure" while approaching Yuma, Ariz. during a test flight on June 28, according to a spokesman for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. There were no injuries, but the drone was "substantially damaged" and the damage "compromised the airworthiness of the aircraft," the spokesman said.

A Facebook spokeswoman declined to share details about the damage or cause of the failure ahead of the NTSB's report. A spokeswoman said Facebook viewed the Aquila test flight a success. "We have already learned a lot from the results of this flight test and will continue to learn from all the future flight tests we plan to run," she said.

The NTSB, whose primary function is to probe accidents, plans to release a more detailed report on the accident within the next two months. Bloomberg first reported on the accident Monday.

The incident is the latest snag in Facebook's broader push to boost global internet availability through its Internet.org initiative.

In September, a Facebook satellite was destroyed on the launchpad during a t est of the Falcon 9 rocket designed by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX. In February, India's telecommunications regulator banned a Facebook service that offered unlimited access to a limited number of websites.

Eventually, Facebook hopes to build a fleet of high-altitude, solar-powered Aquila drones that can beam broadband access to the 1.6 billion people that live in areas that don't have access to a mobile network today. The Aquila drone weighs less than a 1,000 pounds and has a 138-foot wingspan, larger than a Boeing 737 single-aisle plane. Facebook expects the drone to stay aloft for 90 days at a time.

Facebook previously said that Aquila's flight lasted 96 minutes, more than an hour longer than planned. The accident occurred at 7:43 a.m. local time, according to the NTSB.

Facebook previously flagged the structural failure in a July 21 blog post. It said engineers were analyzing the results of the test, including "a structural failure we experienced just before landing."

The Federal Aviation Administration authorizes such experimental drones to fly only in specific designated areas, isolated from manned aircraft.

The agency is currently working on regulations addressing commercial uses of small drones, 55 pounds or less, at altitudes below 400 feet. Rules covering larger drones weighing hundreds of pounds or more -- and designed to operate at much higher altitudes -- are years away despite strong industry pressure for faster federal action.