The World’s Largest Aircraft Airlander 10 Crash

The world’s Largest Aircraft Airlander 10 crash landed at the end of its second test. The developer of the Airlander 10 says the blimp-shaped airship sustained damage after it made a bumpy landing last week in eastern England. “The Airlander experienced a heavy landing and the front of the flight deck has sustained some damage which is currently being assessed,” Hybrid Air Vehicles, the British company behind the aircraft, said in a statement. “Both pilots and the ground crew are safe and well and the aircraft is secured and stable at its normal mooring location”, added HAV.

The Airlander 10 tilted forward and was unable to pull out of its dive as it floated closer toward the airfield, front first. Disaster struck like a narcotized sloth, as the ship slowly crunched down in what Hybrid Air Vehicles described as a “heavy landing” and bystanders called a crash.

Rumors that the aircraft had clipped a telephone pole, Hybrid Air Vehicles tweeted, were untrue.  The company did not explain what caused the crash but said all planned tasks were completed during the flight. The vehicle had just completed its planned 100-minute flight when it nosedived as it came in to land. “Hybrid Air Vehicles runs a robust set of procedures for flight test activities and investigation of issues,” the company added. “We will be running through these in the days ahead as we continue the development of the Airlander aircraft.”

Part airship, part helicopter, part plane, the aircraft is about 50 feet longer than the biggest passenger plane. Airlander 10 completed its maiden test flight just last week. But that was not without incident either. The flight was postponed for three days due to a technical problem, and then when Airlander took off – after hours of delay – it only stayed in the air for 20 minutes instead of the 90 minutes originally planned.

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