Russia’s first postal drone failed spectacularly on its maiden voyage as it lost control and smashed itself into a build shortly after takeoff. Have a look:
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 Top News (@Reuters) April 3, 2018
Whoops!
cc: @JeffBezos https://t.co/fS64TNoGMV
— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) April 3, 2018
Socialist Innovation https://t.co/JZjaUlUUQu
— Dave (@davebit_) April 4, 2018
Oh, the narrative arc https://t.co/8NltFiUHWu
— Tara Mulholland (@tara_mulholland) April 3, 2018
Can't
Stop
Laughing https://t.co/ykgr5YdFnt— Roberto Baldwin (@strngwys) April 3, 2018
And tell us more about Russian intervention:
This is the same country that (allegedly) influenced a U.S. presidential election through their savvy use of social media. https://t.co/92A2Aeblzg
— Gareth McGrath (@GarethMcGrathSN) April 3, 2018
More from Engaget:
Want to know why mail drones aren’t ready for prime time? Russia can tell you. The Siberian town of Ulan-Ude was expecting to beam with pride as organizer Rudron/Expeditor 3M tested a postal drone in the area for the first time, but they left red-faced after the inaugural flight went spectacularly wrong. The hexacopter courier went haywire moments after takeoff, smacking into the side of a building at high speed — as you can see in the video below, it went from technological triumph to an embarrassing pile of scrap metal in a matter of seconds.
It was a costly crash, too, as the drone reportedly cost about $20,000.
It’s not certain what went wrong, although regional leader Alexei Tsydenov speculated to Reuters that the 100-plus WiFi signals in the area might have played a part. Mind you, we’d take that theory with a grain of salt. Mail drones have flown in denser urban areas than this, so it’s not as if WiFi is guaranteed to cause havoc.
The rest here.
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