FutureFlight
Beta Partners With eVTOL Safety Researchers for 50-foot Battery Drop Test
The eVTOL aircraft battery pack survived the 50-foot drop without any damage as part of safety evaluations conducted by the U.S. National Institute for Aviation Research.
Beta's eVTOL battery pack drops onto a hard surface from a height of 50 feet
An 800-volt battery pack built by Beta Technologies for its eVTOL aircraft undergoes a 50-foot drop test at NIAR's laboratory in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo: NIAR)

Scientists with the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), together with eVTOL developer Beta Technologies, have performed the first-ever drop test of an aircraft battery to study the safety of the vehicle in the event of an emergency landing. 

The study, which was sponsored by the FAA, is part of an ongoing crashworthiness evaluation program focused on occupant safety. For this research program, the NIAR will evaluate the performance of eVTOL battery packs and their surrounding structures after being dropped from a height of 50 feet (15 meters)—the same type of testing that fuel cells and tanks made for traditional airplanes and helicopters are required to undergo per federal requirements prescribed in 14 CFR 27.952.