Toddler’s Popsicle-by-Air Marks Milestone in U.S. Drone Delivery

  • Alphabet subsidiary makes first-of-its-kind drop in Virginia
  • FAA-approved tests conducted near Virginia Tech’s campus
Alphabet’s Wing dronePhotographer: Charles Mostoller/Bloomberg
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From her home in a wooded hollow in Virginia hill country, Brianna Smith and her two-year-old son Jack entered the aviation record books on Tuesday.

Just six minutes after a technician from Alphabet Inc.’s Wing clicked the “Confirm Order” button on a smartphone app, a drone operated by the company had flown from a simulated store more than a mile away, hovered over her lawn and lowered the ice cream and Popsicle she’d ordered.