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."
According to a report in the UK publication Pilot, a source at Cotswold Airport said that the aircraft had crashed to the ground from a height of around 20 feet. A photo online shows what appears to be the VX4 with significant damage to structures including the wing.
A spokeswoman for the company told AIN it would not be commenting any further at this stage. It remains unclear how the consequences of the incident might impact flight testing as part of Vertical’s objective of achieving UK and EASA type certification for the aircraft by the end of 2026.
The incident comes almost a week after Vertical Aerospace issued a report on the first half of the current financial year. The company told shareholders it has cash reserves amounting to £89.7 million ($114.8 million) and is set to spend £80 million over the next 12 months as it works to bring the VX4 into commercial service with prospective customers including Bristow, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and Japan Airlines.
Vertical started tethered flight testing with its first VX4 prototype in September 2022, and earlier this year began untethered flights. The company's founder and CEO, Stephen Fitzpatrick, told shareholders in a letter on August 3 that the next 12 months' cash reserves will support the start of crewed flight testing and the construction of an upgraded second prototype.
During the first half of the financial year, Vertical was granted design organization approval by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and added to its provisional backlog of orders by signing up South Korea’s Kakao Mobility as a prospective customer.