Vertical Confirms Flight-test Incident with eVTOL Prototype | Aviation International News

Vertical Confirms Flight-test Incident with eVTOL Prototype

No injuries during motor failure test

Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOL prototype aircraft in untethered remotely piloted flight tests. — Vertical Aerospace's first eVTOL prototype aircraft was involved in a flight test incident on August 9, with no injuries reported. (Image: Vertical)

By Charles Alcock • Managing Editor

August 9, 2023

Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 full-scale prototype of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft was involved in an incident during untethered flight testing at Cotswold Airport in the UK on Wednesday. In a 6-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the UK-based public company said that no one was injured during the remotely piloted flight.

"Our flight test program is designed to establish the limits of the aircraft's performance, and the incident occurred during an uncrewed test of the aircraft's maneuverability during a motor failure test scenario, which is a key requirement to progress to crewed operations," Vertical said in its written statement. "We are working closely with the relevant authorities."

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