Amazon delivery drone so loud it sounds like a ‘giant beehive’

John Case, an orthodontist in College Station, Texas, where Amazon’s delivery drone experiment is taking place, told CNBC that he recently encountered an Amazon delivery drone that “sounded like a giant beehive.”

“You know it’s coming because it’s pretty loud,” Case said.

Amazon is seeking approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to expand its drone delivery operations beyond College Station in Tolleson, Arizona, according to CNBC.

College Station City Manager Bryan Woods conducted tests on an Amazon drone and found it emitted noise ranging from 47 to 61 decibels, according to the report. Decibel levels of 40 to 65 are similar to a typical suburban area at night, a household refrigerator or a business office, according to the Yale Environmental Health and Safety Decibel Level Comparison Chart.

In May, Amazon submitted a proposal to the administration to increase deliveries in College Station from 200 to 469 flights per day. Soon after, College Station Mayor John Nichols wrote in a letter that residents were fed up with the noise.

“Since locating in College Station, residents in the neighborhoods adjacent to the Prime Air facility have raised concerns with the City Council about drone noise levels, particularly during takeoff and landing, as well as some delivery operations” , Nichols wrote, according to CNBC. .

Amazon and Mayor Nichols did not immediately return Business Insider’s request for comment.

Amazon said in a statement to CNBC that it is “proud of the thousands of deliveries we’ve made and the hundreds of customers we deliver to” through its Prime Air drone program.

“We value the College Station community and consider local feedback whenever possible when making operational decisions for Prime Air,” the statement said.