The Facebook giant drone's quest to bring broadband internet to all corners of the globe had a bumpy landing on June 28 when its Aquila drone ended its first test flight in Arizona, reported on Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an accident that occurred during the fly of the said drone. Gladly, no one was hurt in the incident.
Facebook Drone Accident Is Now On Safety Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating an accident that occurred during the inaugural flight of Facebook's Aquila unmanned solar-powered drone, whose goal is to bring the Internet to remote reaches of the world. According to USA Today, the drone suffered a "structural failure" as it was coming in for a landing in the Arizona desert, according to the investigation.
In statement, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said that although there were no injuries or ground damage, the aircraft itself was substantially damaged. Meanwhile, a Facebook spokesperson called the flight successful. "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," said the Facebook spokesperson.
The Facebook Drone
As described by CNET, the Aquila, with the wingspan of a Boeing 737, is a drone that is part of a large-scale effort by Facebook to boost broadband coverage to remote areas without traditional infrastructure. But the company's efforts in that regard have been met by setbacks. Facebook had been testing a much smaller scale version of Aquila for several months, but this flight a month ago was the first true test of the aircraft.
"If we make the right investments now, we can connect billions of people in the next decade and lead the way for our generation to do great things," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post from the summit on Saturday. CEO Mark zuckerberg remains positive despite of the incident happen. He believes that the team who is responsible for the Aquilla project will make it through and soon will succeed its goal.
