Zuckerberg called June Drone test flight successful - But It had a Major Structural Failure
Accident Involving Facebook Experimental Drone Under
Investigation
By Alan Levin and
Sarah Frier
November 21, 2016 — 3:25 PM EST November 21, 2016 — 3:25
PM EST
NTSB investigating aircraft’s structural failure on
approach
Company founder Zuckerberg called June test flight
successful
Aquila in flight. Source: Facebook
A U.S. safety agency is investigating an accident
involving a massive experimental drone Facebook Inc. is developing to bring the
internet to remote areas of the world.
No one was hurt in the incident, which came during the
unmanned aircraft’s first test flight on June 28. It marks the latest hiccup in
Facebook’s plans to wirelessly connect the world, following an explosion
earlier this year that destroyed one of its satellites and political resistance
to the service in India.
The high-altitude drone, which has a wingspan wider than
a Boeing Co. 737 and is powered by four electric engines, suffered a
“structural failure” as it was coming in for a landing, according to a
previously undisclosed investigation by the National Transportation Safety
Board.
“We were happy with the successful first test flight and
were able to verify several performance models and components including
aerodynamics, batteries, control systems and crew training, with no major
unexpected results,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.
While there has been no previous mention of the NTSB
investigation or details about the incident, the company did say the drone,
called Aquila, had had a structural failure in a July 21 web post.
‘Substantial’ Damage
The accident occurred at 7:43 a.m. local time near Yuma,
Peter Knudson, an NTSB spokesman, said. The NTSB has classified the failure as
an accident, meaning the damage was “substantial.” There was no damage on the
ground, Knudson said.
The flying wing designed to eventually be solar powered
so it can remain aloft for long stretches. The social-media company is seeking
to boost the percent of people around the world who connect to the internet by
leapfrogging ground-based infrastructure limitations.
Company Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said he
was "deeply disappointed" when a SpaceX rocket explosion Sept. 1
destroyed a Facebook satellite that would have helped spread internet access
across Africa.
The company has also had political hurdles. In India, for
example, Zuckerberg was surprised when people rejected the company’s offer of
free web services that had Facebook at the center. Locals saw it as a
poorly-disguised land grab of the Indian internet market, instead of a
charitable project.
Interest in Indonesia
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla spoke to Zuckerberg
in recent days at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru about
using the Aquila drone to beam internet to remote parts of the country, the
Jakarta Post reported.
"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.
Zuckerberg was so excited about the drone aircraft’s
first flight that he flew to the test facility in Arizona early on June 28,
according to an account in The Verge.
In a web post after the flight, he said it was so
successful it was extended from 30 to 96 minutes. “We gathered lots of data
about our models and the aircraft structure -- and after two years of
development, it was emotional to see Aquila actually get off the ground,”
Zuckerberg wrote.
The accident was the second involving an unmanned
aircraft designed to fly for long periods as a less expensive alternative to
satellites. An Alphabet Inc. drone known as the Solara 50 was destroyed May 1,
2015, at a desert landing strip in New Mexico after experiencing control
problems as it flew in a thermal updraft, according to the NTSB.
Carbon Fiber
The aircraft are made with the latest carbon-fiber
technology in an attempt to make them as light as possible so they can stay
aloft with minimum power.
Facebook’s drone has a wingspan of 141 feet (43 meters)
and weighs 900 pounds (408 kilograms). It has no traditional fuselage and is
built almost entirely of thin, black wings. It flies slowly, using only the
energy required to power three hair driers, according to Facebook.
Aquila is designed to fly for months at a time, using
solar energy to replenish batteries at altitudes above 60,000 feet (18,288
meters). It will be equipped with a laser communications system that can
deliver data 10 times faster than current technologies, Facebook said in a
promotional video.
The NTSB hasn’t yet released any of its preliminary findings
on the extent of the damage or the potential causes of the failure.
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