Swiss Post Grounds Delivery Drones After Crash Near Kids

Swiss Post decided to ground its autotnomous drone delivery fleet after one suffered a catastrophic failure resulting in it making a hard landing just 150-feet away from a group of young children.

As TechCrunch reports, Swiss Post operates a drone delivery service to carry lab samples from a medical center for priority cases, with the drones operated by Matternet. In January, one of the drones deployed its emergency parachute and made a soft landing after a GPS hardware error occurred. However, it's the second incident which resulted in the fleet being grounded.

On May 9, a drone fell to the ground over a Zurich forest, but also very close to a group of kindergartners. The drone had once again attempted to deploy its emergency parachute, but the parachute rope was severed which resulted in the 26-pound drone entering a free-fall and crashing. Luckily nobody was hurt.

Swiss Post says additional measures are being put in place following guidance from the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB). These include reinforcing the parachute rope with metal braiding as well as adding a second rope. The drones are programmed to emit a shrill whistle when an emergency landing is being performed, but this whistle will now be made louder so as to be more noticeable by people on the ground.

As an extra precaution, Swiss Post is also setting flight operation safety margins 20 percent lower than the Federal Office of Civil Aviation requires. It means the drones will only be allowed to fly if constant wind is no greater than 6m/s and gusts of winds are below 10m/s. The drone will now only be able to travel at 17m/s as opposed to its previous maximum of 20m/s. It's hoped all these safety measures will allow the deliveries to begin again soon.

If autonomous drone deliveries are the future, then they need to be equipped with infallible safety systems in case of a catastrophic failure. A heavy delivery drone making a hard landing so close to children is a very clear reminder of why this is so important.

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