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Incident · Malfunction

Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)

A Zipline autonomous delivery drone crashed near a village in Muhanga District, Rwanda in July 2019 after a technical failure during a medical supply delivery mission. The drone deployed its parachute recovery system and came down in a rural area; no injuries were reported. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo acknowledged the incident in media coverage and described it as a validation of Zipline's parachute-recovery design. Zipline's Rwanda fixed-wing delivery network had made over 10,000 deliveries by mid-2019 and was the world's largest drone delivery network at the time.

Occurred 2019-07-01 · Zipline Platform 2 (P2) · Zipline · Drones

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Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
Track Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (2)

  1. https://www.faa.gov/uas/
  2. https://spectrum.ieee.org/in-the-air-with-ziplines-medical-delivery-drones

Common questions

What happened in Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)?
A Zipline autonomous delivery drone crashed near a village in Muhanga District, Rwanda in July 2019 after a technical failure during a medical supply delivery mission. The drone deployed its parachute recovery system and came down in a rural area; no injuries were reported. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo acknowledged the incident in media coverage and described it as a validation of Zipline's parachute-recovery design. Zipline's Rwanda fixed-wing delivery network had made over 10,000 deliveries by mid-2019 and was the world's largest drone delivery network at the time.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on July 1, 2019 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)?
Zipline Platform 2 (P2) by Zipline is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
Has anyone responded to Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Sources by quality tier

1
primary-regulatory-filing
Regulatory filing
1
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019).

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Canonical ID d0f3ddd5-35c6-47e3-8555-4945d74ffc2e