Pilot Was Uninjured In The Accident

An experimental prototype tilt-rotor aircraft went down conducting its first flight last week, but fortunately, the pilot was able to walk away from the accident.

On Facebook, Contact! Magazine editor Patrick Panzera writes that he had received an email with these photos from Kurt Thams. The flight took place at Hollister, CA. Thams told Panzera in the email that he saw the accident happen, and did not expect it to be survivable.

Thams said he talked to the pilot after the accident. It appeared that the elevator on the aircraft, a two-prop tilt-rotor under development by a company called Elytron, appeared to jam. The Elytron 2S spun in from about 50 feet in altitude.

The company hopes to produce four- and 10-seat models of the aircraft, according to its website. It describes the Elytron 2S as a "small tiltrotor aircraft that uses a box wing configuration and is aimed at the civilian market."

(Images from Contact! Magazine Facebook page, provided courtesy of Kurth Thams and Matt Gillis)

FMI: http://elytron.aero, www.contactmagazine.com