The future of AgustaWestland’s AW609 civil tiltrotor program has been thrown into doubt after the crash of a prototype in Italy on Friday that killed the two test pilots on board.
Radar data appears to confirm that the aircraft, Prototype 2, went down about 10 minutes after takeoff near Santhia in northern Italy, near the manufacturer’s headquarters in Cascina Costa on the outskirts of Milan.
AgustaWestland released the following statement:
“Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland confirms the loss of one prototype AW609 tiltrotor and the tragic loss of two pilots. The Company’s deepest sympathies are with the families. Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland is working with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the accident.”
Certification had been targeted to occur in 2017 with customer deliveries to begin in 2018. Two more test aircraft are currently under construction.
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