Propeller flaw faulted for Vertical’s Aug. 9 eVTOL air taxi plunge

UK air taxi developer Vertical Aerospace has revealed the cause of the August 9 crash of its VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype aircraft, and said it has already begun moving toward resumed test flights and planned certification in 2026.

London-based Vertical announced the results of its internal investigation into the incident, during which its prototype air taxi sustained considerable damage during a stress test hover flight when it dropped from what witnesses said was a height of about 20 feet to the tarmac. The relatively rapidly obtained findings stated the cause was “a fault with a propeller” that led to the eVTOL coming down hard during the tethered trial.

Read: Vertical’s laconic response to air taxi crash will only add to its woes

As virtually all companies tend to do in managing troubling events, Vertical presented its results in a forward-looking manner. It noted the early generation