A drone for delivering medicine to the Wadden Islands on a test flight from Lauwersoog crashed in the Wadden Sea underway to Schiermonnikoog back in October.
Translation by Traci White
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that the incident was described in documents from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The ministry, UMCG Ambulance Care and Royal Dutch Touring Club ANWB are testing out drug delivery by drone to the islands. The first drone test flights are being carried out without a payload.
The drone had begun making its descent toward the helipad on Schiermonnikoog about a kilometre away from the island when it suddenly plummeted 80 meters into the water. A salvage vessel was able to fish the drone out of the water. According the ministry, the crash was due to human error due to the design of the remote control.
Plans for the drone pilot were announced back in March. The idea is for the drones to deliver medication to the island that is otherwise hard to come by for inhabitants. A previous test flight was a success and the drone was able to make the crossing in less than four minutes.
