Two Occupants On Board Safely Bailed Out Of The Airplane

A GippsAero GA 10 turboprop airplane went down June 4 during flight testing at the Mojave Air and Space Port, resulting in the likely destruction of the airplane.

The Deseret News reports that the accident occurred around 1100 local time on June 4. The airplane was being flight tested at the National Test Pilot School, which was performing flight analysis for GippsAero, according to NTPS spokesman Dr. Alan Peterson. He said that no NTPS students, faculty or aircraft were involved in the accident.

GippsAero spokesman Earle Boyter confirmed the accident, saying that "all safety systems worked as planned and both pilots will be fine." He said that the company is cooperating with the FAA in its investigation.

One of the pilots was identified by the Latrobe Valley Express newspaper of Australia as David Wheatland of Traralgon. The other pilot, Greg Lewis, was from the United States according to the paper.

GippsAero is based in Morwell, Australia. The company is owned by the Mahindra Group based in India.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report, Original report