Amazon drone could dismantle itself in sky, rain down in parts

Nobody, it can be imagined, wants a drone falling on their head, especially if it's a drone large enough to deliver packages for Amazon.

But the e-commerce behemoth clearly sees a future in which bad things happen to good technology, and a malfunctioning drone ought not plummet from the sky. Better to do it piece by piece.

In November, Amazon received a patent outlining a possible plan for "directed fragmentation for unmanned airborne (aerial) vehicles" used in deliveries. "The use of UAVs is accompanied by the need for new solutions to various problems, such as service disruptions due to unsuitable weather conditions, equipment malfunctions, and other problems," reads the text of the patent, which the firm applied for in June 2016.