Vertical VX4 eVTOL Suffers Incident During Flight Testing

Vertical Aerospace has reported that its VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft prototype was involved in an incident during flight testing on Wednesday. The extent of the damage to the prototype, which was piloted remotely, has not been disclosed. The incident occurred at Vertical’s flight test center at Cotswold Airport (GBA) in the U.K. and no injuries have been reported.

“Our flight test programme 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 wrote in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are working closely with the relevant authorities.”

As previously reported by AVweb, the Vertical VX4 flew for the first time in September 2022. According to the company, the aircraft will offer a cruise speed of 150 miles per hour, range of up to 100 miles and be capable of carrying a pilot and four passengers. In a recently released report on its financial results for the first half of 2023, Vertical noted that VX4 flight test activities to date have included both tethered and untethered hovers as well as expanding the vehicle’s low-speed flight envelope. The company is also working on a second VX4 prototype.