Last July, Facebook presented the first flight of its solar drone Aquila as a real success. Four months later, it would seem that the balance sheet is much more contrasted.
For several years, the main players in new technologies have been looking for ways to extend the Internet to the most remote regions. If Google has its system of satellites or balloons, Facebook has focused more on a system of drones through the foundation Internet.org. The firm bought the giant Titan Aerospace in April 2014 to develop a solar-powered glider drone. It is supposed to be connected to the Internet by the ground and to broadcast a global signal over the whole region that it overlooks, thus avoiding the problems of connection in the steep zones or the valleys surrounded by mountains.
Last July, Facebook welcomed the first flight of its drone Aquila. The social network announced a low-level flight of 96 minutes. However, if Facebook had communicated on a glitch at the time of the landing of the craft, it would seem that it was minimized. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) initiated an investigation into the first flight.
"The drone, which is larger than a Boeing 737 and powered by four electric motors, suffered a structural flaw while it was about to land," Bloomberg said. Information already given by Facebook in July. However, this incident would have been more serious than announced. The NTSB classifies the incident as a real accident with substantial damage to the drone. It is still unclear what happened, it is the whole object of the investigation now opened by the NTSB.
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