Also: Embraer’s eVTOL Vision, Low-Carbon Fuel, CIA Preserving A-12 Blackbird, ISS Future An Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone crashed into the side of a Texas apartment building on February 4, becoming the latest in a string of concerning incidents. Video recorded by one of the nearby residents shows the drone drifting slowly toward the building before hitting it and dropping to the ground. There was plenty of smoke, but luckily no fire, according to first responders. AutoFlight recently unveiled what seems to be the first electric vertical takeoff and landing device in the 5-ton class. The Matrix 5 was publicly shown off for the first time at the company’s low-altitude test facility in Kunshan, China. During the event, Matrix completed a full transition sequence: vertical takeoff, wingborne cruise, and vertical landing. It flew alongside AutoFlight’s smaller, 2-ton CarryAll cargo eVTOL. The FAA was determined to prove that drone operators can’t get away with everything before nearly 70,000 people stepped foot into an open-air stadium for Super Bowl LX, publishing a lengthy enforcement summary just a day before the game. The long list laid out fines and license actions aimed at operators who flew where they absolutely shouldn’t have. All this — and MORE in today’s episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!
