No Injuries Were Reported, Test Campaign to Proceed

An experimental technology demonstrator built by Israel-based AIR crashed and caught fire during an October 23 test flight near West Palm Beach. While unfortunate, the accident comes as more of a publicity blow than anything; the aircraft was unmanned at the time, and multiple other prototypes are ready to take its place in the test campaign.

The demonstrator, registered N514AX, was an experimental version of AIR’s two-seat electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, dubbed the AIR ONE. The prototype had recently earned its experimental airworthiness certificate from the FAA, allowing US flight testing to begin at the manufacturer’s new flight test center near West Palm Beach over the summer. All had gone smoothly since, with the same prototype performing demonstration flights for investors and local officials mere days before it became rubble.

“The only thing I’m feeling is sadness about losing an aircraft. It’s like losing one of your babies,” said AIR CEO Rani Plaut. “It’s not a desirable development, but it’s also not really a setback because we have planned for this type of thing, and we have several production prototypes nearly ready to fly.”

The AIR ONE uses eight fixed rotors and a blended wing-rotor configuration that claims to produce up to 60 percent of lift without tilt mechanisms or pusher props. The so-called “Fly-By-Intent” flight control system is designed to simplify operation, automatically stabilizing and detecting hazards in the intended direction of flight. The aircraft is sharply aimed at the light sport end of the eVTOL spectrum, intended for short-range, personal missions.

AIR has been testing full-scale prototypes for over eight years. It completed transition flights in Israel in 2022 and entered the US Air Force’s Agility Prime program in 2023. The company says it has secured more than 800 preorders for the AIR ONE and plans to leverage the FAA’s MOSAIC framework to pursue certification later in the decade.

While the crash will delay one leg of the test campaign, AIR’s leadership is taking the incident in stride. Plaut noted that a new prototype will begin flights in Israel in the coming weeks before resuming testing in Florida.

FMI: www.airev.aero