Amazon’s MK30 delivery drone reached about 82 decibels 20 feet from its launch pad, in noise tests Amazon ran and the FAA published. Hovering over a delivery, it measured 82 to 84 decibels at the same distance.
Those are not the numbers Amazon gives towns. At a North Myrtle Beach planning workshop on 7 October, an Amazon representative said the drone makes about 68 decibels, comparable to a household dishwasher, WPDE reported. The city’s planning commission votes on 20 October on a launch pad behind Amazon’s warehouse on Water Tower Road.
What the tests show
Amazon’s Prime Air team measured the MK30 at the Pendleton test range in Oregon in October 2024. The consultancy ESA analysed the recordings for the FAA’s environmental review of Amazon’s Baton Rouge hub. The FAA posted the report with that review.
Microphones were set out at fixed distances from the pad and the delivery spot. At about 20 feet, the loudest moment of a takeoff averaged 82 decibels. At 75 feet it averaged about 70. The 68 that Amazon quotes fits a listener roughly 80 feet away.
The drone drops a package from about 13 feet. The FAA’s report takes 16.4 feet as the closest a person stands to that spot. A delivery brings the drone down over the customer’s yard, not the street outside.
What Amazon tells towns
As reported, neither Amazon’s North Myrtle Beach figure nor the one it gave in Massachusetts came with a distance. Tareq Wafaie, of Amazon’s economic development team, told Westborough’s planning board in September that the drone is “loudest during takeoff and landing”, at about 65 decibels, Boston.com reported. He compared it to traffic on a residential street.
Decibels are logarithmic. On the usual rule of thumb, 82 decibels sounds more than twice as loud as 68.
Who decides
North Myrtle Beach’s planning staff say approving the pad would not authorise a single flight. Amazon needs that from the FAA, which told WPDE that operators and local leaders are primarily responsible for community concerns. The commission withdrew a motion to approve on 22 September and called the workshop instead. What it votes on is a fenced 13,627-square-foot paddock of launch, landing and divert pads, where 24 parking spaces are now.
