Food Delivery Drone Crashes Into Power Lines, Leaving Thousands Without Electricity

Thousands of residents were left without electricity after a food delivery drone crashed into power lines in Australia.

The power company, Energex, had to shut down the network after a crew was called to the incident Thursday in Browns Plains, south of Brisbane.

While Energex was able to restore electricity for about 2,000 customers within 45 minutes, 300 remained without power for at least three hours, due to being in close vicinity of the drone crash, ABC News said Friday.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald told ABC Radio they had never seen delivery drones hitting the network.

"We've never seen these delivery drones hit the network. It's rare," he 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."

Interestingly, the food inside the drone's delivery box was still hot when the power company reached the spot to fix the situation.

"The meal was still hot inside the drone's delivery box when the crew got there," Donald added.

He also confirmed there was no permanent damage to the power lines. He further called on people and companies to be careful and ensure objects do not hit power lines or cause damage to the network.

"It landed on top of 11,000 volts and whilst it didn't take out power, there was voltage tracking across the drone and the drone caught fire and fell to the ground," Donald said. "So we didn't actually have to get the drone off, as such, it actually caught fire and incinerated itself," Brisbane Times reported.

"While this is a different circumstance, it's no different to the previous generation flying kites," Donald said. "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."

According to the spokesperson, there have been multiple objects including, shoes, trampolines, umbrellas, and even toilet seats that have caused damage to power lines in the past.

"It could bring down live power lines. The last thing we want is people in danger," he said. "It's common sense really, and we're asking for that common sense to prevail."

Speaking to the outlet, a spokesperson for Wing, the drone delivery company, said that the drone was making a "precautionary controlled landing" when it came to rest on a power line.

"We immediately reported this to Energex, who attended the location," the spokesperson added. "Two hours later, during the retrieval process, there was a power outage in the area.