An Amazon drone delivery in Richmond, Texas, went sideways this week when the device dropped a package directly into a customer’s swimming pool. As reported by New York Post, Lindsey Austen, a local resident, received an alert on Monday that her order was out for delivery via the Prime Air program. After hearing the loud buzzing of the drone, she ran outside to witness the arrival of the package. Instead of a standard delivery, she watched as the drone opened its hatch and deposited the parcel into the water.
The footage of this delivery failure started circulating on social media on Thursday. It is currently unknown what items were inside the package, but the result was a completely waterlogged delivery. Austen expressed her frustration after the incident occurred. “When it went into the pool, I was shocked,” Austen said. “I don’t think I’ll be wanting any more drone deliveries.”
This mishap took place just one day after Amazon announced a significant expansion of its Prime Air service. The company plans to roll out these ultrafast air deliveries to 500 cities across the United States by the end of the year. This represents a sixfold increase in coverage for the program. The expansion will reach suburbs in areas like Chicago, Atlanta, Syracuse, and Cleveland. Customers in these locations could see their items arrive in as little as 30 minutes.
What Prime Air actually looks like on a normal delivery
The service is designed to operate primarily in suburban environments, keeping the drones away from major airports and dense collections of skyscrapers. Each drone site is intended to serve multiple cities within a single metro area. While the system has already completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries this year, it does come with specific limitations.
Each drone can only carry one package at a time, and the weight limit for these shipments is five pounds. This isn’t the first Amazon delivery to go viral for the wrong reasons, as a driver was caught hurling packages at front doors, treating some homes noticeably better than others.
Pricing for the service varies based on membership status and order size. Amazon Prime members can access the service for free if their order exceeds $50. For smaller orders, Prime members pay $2.99, while non-members are charged $4.99 per delivery. Amazon spokesperson Allie Payne addressed the incident, noting that such errors are not common.
“Prime Air provides customers with fast, reliable delivery across a broad selection of products and the response from customers using Prime Air has been overwhelmingly positive,” Payne said. She emphasized that the company uses these moments to refine its technology and operations. “Incidents are extremely rare, and when a delivery doesn’t go as planned, we learn from it to improve the experience and take steps to prevent it from happening in the future,” the spokesperson added.
The company also pointed toward its existing customer protection policies to handle these situations. According to Payne, “Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee ensures customers can shop with confidence, knowing that we’ll make it right by offering a refund or replacement in the rare instances when items do not arrive as expected.”
Published: Aug 21, 2026 05:45 pm