NTSB: Joby Aviation Air Taxi Prototype ‘Substantially Damaged’ in Crash

A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report says Joby’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft ‘experienced a component failure.’

Thom Patterson

Tuesday, March 08, 2022 at 01:32 PM ET

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Joby's eVTOL design is propelled by six tilt-rotors and powered by lithium-ion batteries. [Courtesy: Joby Aviation]

Key Takeaways:

A Joby Aviation eVTOL prototype crashed during a remote-piloted test flight on February 16 due to a component failure, resulting in substantial damage and a ground fire, but no injuries.
The accident occurred while the aircraft was flying at 272 mph, significantly exceeding its designed cruise speed of 200 mph, as part of an accelerated flight test campaign to expand its performance envelope.
Joby Aviation, a leading eVTOL developer, confirmed that experimental flight test programs are designed to determine aircraft limits and that accidents are an unfortunate possibility, with safety measures like remote piloting in uninhabited areas in place.

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Last month’s test flight accident of a Joby Aviation electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi prototype occurred after it experienced a component failure, resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The report says no one was killed or injured in the February 16 accident, which occurred while the aircraft was being piloted by remote control in a rural area of California. The report offered no additional details, including the nature of the component failure.