{"id":335316,"date":"2026-06-13T21:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T21:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/335316\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T21:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T21:10:08","slug":"richardson-neighbors-protest-amazon-prime-air-drones-over-their-homes-nbc-5-dallas-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/335316\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson neighbors protest Amazon Prime Air drones over their homes \u2013 NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turbulence is growing in several Richardson neighborhoods over Amazon\u2019s drone delivery program, with residents raising concerns about noise, privacy, and safety.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Richardson City Council approved Amazon Prime Air operations last year, but many neighbors say they didn’t know about it until they started seeing and hearing drones fly overhead. <\/p>\n

Amazon markets its drone deliveries as \u201cultrafast, safe, and convenient.\u201d But for some residents living near the company\u2019s drone facility on Research Drive, the experience has been anything but. <\/p>\n

‘Drone highway’<\/p>\n

From the launch site, drones around 80 pounds take off multiple times a day, traveling as far as seven-and-a-half miles to deliver packages, according to the company’s website. <\/p>\n

Residents say that means flying over their homes, and even a nearby school, on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Neighbors describe the constant traffic as a \u201cdrone highway\u201d in the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can hear them even in my home when I’m inside with the TV on,\u201d said Richardson resident Angie Rogers. \u201cI can still hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristi Graham said sometimes, the drones pass over her home every three to five minutes.<\/p>\n

“They’ve taken away our peace in our neighborhood and our neighborhood streets,” she said. <\/p>\n

One of the biggest issues for residents is how low the drones appear to be flying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese drones are barely at 100 feet over our homes,\u201d Graham said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had drone operators come out and demonstrate… and it is way too low.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Amazon drone crashed in the city in February.<\/a><\/p>\n

In a later update to city council members,<\/a> a company spokesperson said there was “some type of interference” with the drone’s GPS next to the building “of that size.”<\/p>\n

In the public meeting, the spokesperson said they’ve “removed all buildings of similar height and size from our delivery portfolio,” meaning big, multifamily developments. <\/p>\n

Residents also say there wasn’t enough communication about the program before it launched. Several neighbors claim only one homeowners’ association was notified before operations began.<\/p>\n

“We were unaware of it completely until the drones started flying like six months ago,” said neighbor Gary Martinie.<\/p>\n

Complaints lead to protests<\/p>\n

In March, Richardson’s City Manager <\/a>told <\/a>NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero <\/a>that they were encouraging the company to increase their base flying altitude to reduce neighbors’ concerns.<\/p>\n

Neighbors say their first public comments started in January and, after months of attending meetings and complaining to the city, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Amazon, residents say they\u2019ve seen little change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve complained to the city, we\u2019ve complained to the FAA numerous times with really no results. Some promises, but no results,\u201d said Martinie.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, residents from at least four neighborhoods took their concerns to the streets, holding a protest to raise awareness and demand action and greater oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wish they would relocate this drone port to a different area,\u201d said resident Nancy Crowe.<\/p>\n

“We would like them to go away and stop flying over our homes, our backyards, destroying our peace in our neighborhood,” echoed Graham. <\/p>\n

Until then, many say they\u2019ll continue speaking out, determined to make sure their voices rise above the sound of drones overhead.<\/p>\n

Amazon responds<\/p>\n

Amazon said customer feedback on Prime Air deliveries has been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to NBC 5, the company also emphasized that it made efforts to engage with the community before launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team engaged extensively with Richardson residents, city leaders, and neighborhood associations before launching drone delivery in this area,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe also increased flight altitudes and adjusted flight paths to reduce impact on residential areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon added that it respects the right of residents to peacefully protest and values community feedback.<\/p>\n

“We will continue working with community members and city officials to address their questions and concerns,” the spokesperson wrote. <\/p>\n

FAA environmental study<\/p>\n

NBC 5 reached out to the FAA for comment on this story, but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n

According to the agency\u2019s website, it has just published a draft study that will be used for future drone delivery operation requests. <\/p>\n

The document was open to public comment, which closed in January. <\/p>\n

You can find the draft here: https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/uas\/advanced_operations\/Part_135_National_DRAFT_PEA_approved_508.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

You can also find more informational videos from the agency here: https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/uas\/advanced_operations\/package_delivery_drone<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Turbulence is growing in several Richardson neighborhoods over Amazon\u2019s drone delivery program, with residents raising concerns about noise,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161,959],"class_list":["post-335316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-richardson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}