We had mentioned the Airlander back in 2014 when it made the news for being the largest aircraft. This time, the Airlander 10 is back in your feed because it failed its second test-flight. After 20mn of flight, the 300-feet long aircraft from Hybrid Air Vehicle went nose down to the ground in a testing area north of London.
The good news is that no-one got hurt, and it’s one of the bright points of “air vehicles” because they don’t crash as hard (back in the days, they had been known to explode).
Airlander 10 is filled with 38,000 cubic meters of Helium gas. Although memories of the Hindenburg disaster may resurface, few people know about the USS Akron helium-filled US Navy airship destruction by a storm, causing the death of 73 people on board.
Since this is a test flight, it’s not completely surprising to see technical glitches either. At the moment, the Hybrid Air Vehicle don’t yet know what happened and have not commented on the specifics of this incident. The UK’s government has started an inquiry through its “air accident investigation” branch.
The Airlander 10 isn’t designed as a passenger aircraft but is thought to have the potential for communications or surveillance, two applications that require an aircraft capable of staying afloat for extended periods of time (~5 days) in a safe, and cost-efficient (and energy-efficient) way.
It could even be used for transport since it can carry a 10-ton payload. It is said that the military has been looking at its capabilities. It costs $33M to build, and its creators hope to start shipping some around the end of this decade.
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