Russia launched its first postal drone on Monday—and almost immediately crashed its first postal drone.
The drone, launched from Ulan-Ude, a city in Siberia, was supposed to deliver a small package to a neighboring village. Siberia is vast and has long, extreme winters. Residents hoped that drone deliveries would become a new method of postal delivery for the region.
You can watch a brief clip of the failed flight below. After quickly ascending into the air, the drone begins its navigation but then flies straight into a wall and collapses back down to the earth.
Russia's first postal drone takes its maiden flight – and crashes straight into a wall. More from @ReutersTV: https://t.co/4WEQdacXFY pic.twitter.com/StcBC1DKJ1
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2018
Unfortunately, it crash-lands quite hard. It also looks to pretty much be destroyed following the short flight. No one was injured during the incident, but Reuters reports that a lot of expletives were heard following the drone’s smash into the wall.
Drone deliveries are being experimented with all across the globe. In Iceland, they’ve used drones to make beer deliveries. In New Zealand, Domino’s used a drone to deliver a pizza in 2016. And a Boeing prototype drone unveiled earlier this year is so robust it can carry up to 500 pounds of cargo.
Perhaps most notable are Amazon‘s efforts to realize drone delivery. After years of prototyping, patents, and test flights, some drone-based deliveries could begin as early as this summer.
This video out of Russia shows the potential dangers and problems with drone operation, though. Gusty winds and competing Wi-Fi networks—as well as predatory birds and other drones—can pose substantial risks to accurate drone operation. On crowded streets with unsuspecting pedestrians below, such a crash could have seriously injured or even killed someone.
Despite this initial failure, Russia won’t be deterred from its postal drone efforts, though.
“We won’t stop with this, we will keep trying,” said Alexei Tsydenov, head of the Buryatia region of Siberia where the flight took place. “Those who don’t risk don’t get a result.”
Tsydenov sounds like a regular Silicon Valley CEO.
H/T Reuters