Following the Airlander 10 crash landing during its second test flight yesterday, Hybrid Air Vehicles announced what happened to the aircraft just before it made that rough ground contact.
The wing-shaped aircraft is notably able to fly for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over two weeks unmanned. It can also reach speeds of 100 mph, propelled by its wing-shaped design, four engines and the 38,000 m3 of helium in its hull. The Airlander’s first flight was notably rescheduled due to a technical problem and a few days later made its maiden voyage, which was 20 minutes instead fo the original 90-minute schedule.
The company revealed in an update:
“Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd can confirm a mooring line attached to the Airlander did contact a power line outside the airfield. No damage was caused to the aircraft and this did not contribute to the heavy landing. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused to anyone.”
Hybrid Air Vehicles launched its first equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube to raise £2 million for the aircraft in 2015 and secured 2.1 million. It then returned to the crowdfunding platform earlier this year and raised an additional £1.2 million. The company has yet to reveal when Airlander 10’s next flight will be happening. It stated the aircraft’s flight deck sustained some damaged which is currently being assessed. The Air Accident Investigation Branch is currently investigating the crash, and Hybrid Air Vehicles confirmed that both pilots and ground crew were not injured.
“Hybrid Air Vehicles runs a robust set of procedures for flight test activities and investigation of issues. We will be running through these in the days ahead as we continue the development of the Airlander aircraft.”
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