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Airlander 10 crashes into field in at Cardington

The world's longest aircraft has crashed less than 24 hours after a successful test flight.

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Airlander 10 'broke free from its mooring mast'

The airlander is secure on the edge of Cardington Airfield Credit: BCH Roads Policing

The company behind Airlander 10 says the aircraft "broke free from its mooring mast" on its flight this morning.

It crashed at Cardington base in Bedfordshire for a second time, with engineers now trying to assess the future of the aircraft.

There is a large rip in the side of the aircraft, which Hybrid Air Vehicles says is a safety mechanism which operates automatically if Airlander breaks free from its mast.

The aircraft is designed to rip open the hull and deflate it to minimise any potential damage to surroundings.

A member of staff suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital for assessment as a precaution. She has since been discharged.

Our initial assessment is that the aircraft broke free from its mooring mast for reasons that will be investigated. The aircraft has a safety system which operates automatically in circumstances of the aircraft breaking free of its mast, and is designed to rip open the hull and deflate the aircraft.

This is a safety feature to ensure our aircraft minimises any potential damage to its surroundings in these circumstances. The aircraft is now deflated and secure on the edge of the airfield. The fuel and helium inside the Airlander have been made safe.

We are testing a brand new type of aircraft and incidents of this nature can occur during this phase of development. We will assess the cause of the incident and the extent of repairs needed to the aircraft in the next few weeks.

– Hybrid Air Vehicles
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Airlander 10 crashes into field in at Cardington

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