Residents of Browns Plains, south of Brisbane, were left without power after a food delivery drone crashed into powerlines last week, according to ABC News.
Energex spokesperson Danny Donald told ABC Radio Brisbane people in Browns Plains, south of Brisbane, and the immediate surrounds lost power after a food delivery drone hit powerlines at approximately 2pm on Friday.
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Energex restored power for about 2,000 customers within 45 minutes, while 300 customers in the immediate vicinity of that drone were without power for three hours.
“The meal was still hot inside the drone’s delivery box when the crew got there,” Donald said.
“This is the first time that I’ve seen it happen. It could have simply been an equipment malfunction. It may have been human error.”
Donald said there was no permanent damage to the network, therefore Energex would not be requesting the food delivery company to cover the cost of the rectification.
“Fifteen years ago, we asked people to be careful if they were giving their children kites for Christmas and where they were flying them. Now we’re asking parents to be very careful with where their kids fly their drones,” he said.
“It could bring down live powerlines. The last thing we want is people in danger.”
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A spokesperson for Wing, the drone delivery company, said the drone made a “precautionary controlled landing yesterday … and came to rest on an overhead powerline”.
“We immediately reported this to Energex, who attended the location,” the spokesperson said.
