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Watch a Drone Crash Into Apple’s New Headquarters

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
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By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
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February 19, 2018, 9:32 AM ET

Since its construction began years ago, Apple Park, the tech giant’s new headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., has been the subject of countless drone videos detailing its progress. But that all went awry over the weekend.

Documentarian Matthew Roberts, who publishes monthly Apple Park construction videos, on Sunday released a video of a drone crashing into the company’s ring-shaped office building. According to Roberts, the drone was owned by another documentarian who asked for his help in finding it. Roberts, “happy to oblige,” launched his drone and found the downed craft “intact for the most part” on the circular structure’s solar roof.

Apple Park was the brainchild of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The novel campus is anchored by a 2.8-million-square-foot circular “ring” building. The headquarters, which opened last year, is also home to an underground auditorium, a state-of-the-art research-and-development facility, and a fitness center for Apple employees. Several restaurants and cafes also dot the landscape, where more than 12,000 Apple employees work.

Roberts is one of a handful of documentarians who has regularly flown drones over Apple Park for the last several years. The videos illustrated the progress Apple made on its construction and provided insight into the project’s timeline when the notoriously secretive Apple kept that information close to the vest.

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This is the first known incident of a drone crashing into Apple Park and it’s unknown whether it caused any damage to the solar panels that power the company’s headquarters. According to Roberts, the drone operator told Apple about the crash and it is unknown at this point whether the person will get the downed craft back.

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By Don Reisinger
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