The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash last summer of an experimental drone Facebook hopes will be able to bring internet availability to remote parts of the world, Bloomberg reported.
The accident happened June 28 during the drone's first test flight. Facebook had not previously announced the NTSB probe, but said in a July 21 web post, the drone, called Aquila, had suffered a structural failure.
No one was injured in the crash, and there was no damage on the ground.
"We were happy with the successful first test flight, and were able to verify several performance models and components including aerodynamics, batteries, control systems and crew training, with no major unexpected results," Facebook said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
The crash happened near Yuma, Ariz., NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said, and the failure was classified as an accident, which means damage to the drone was "substantial," Bloomberg reported.
Facebook experienced another setback this year when a SpaceX rocket exploded Sept. 1, destroying a satellite owned by Facebook that was intended to help bring better internet access across Africa.
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