Skip to main content

World’s largest aircraft tears itself apart

worlds largest aircraft tears itself apart airlander 10
Beds, Cambs & Herts Roads Policing Unit
The world’s largest aircraft suffered more problems over the weekend when it slipped free from its mooring mast before automatically tearing apart and coming to rest in a crumpled heap in a field. Two people sustained minor injuries as a result of the incident.

It’s the second disaster to hit the enormous Airlander 10 — also known as “the Flying Bum” for its butt-shaped leading end — in the space of 15 months.

The 92-meter-long (302 feet) flying machine came loose from its mooring at an airfield in Bedfordshire, about 40 miles north of London, England, on Saturday morning. Shortly after coming free, a safety mechanism automatically ripped open the hull to rapidly deflate the aircraft, causing it to collapse and return quickly to terra firma, the company said.

The Airlander’s manufacturer, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), confirmed in a message on Facebook that the aircraft was not in use when the incident took place, adding that it’s now trying to determine what exactly went wrong.

The Airlander on a good day. HAV
HAV

Lifted by helium and powered by four turbocharged diesel engines for a top speed of 90 mph, the the part-airplane, part-airship is capable of reaching heights of 4,900 meters (16,000 feet) and can stay airborne for as long as two weeks. At least, that’s when everything goes to plan. On Saturday, November 18, something went seriously wrong.

“The aircraft is now deflated and secure on the edge of the airfield,” HAV confirmed, adding that the fuel and helium inside the Airlander “have been made safe.”

It said that one person was injured during the incident, while another needed hospital treatment after an accident while dealing with the aftermath.

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

The Airlander is capable of carrying cargo of up to 10 tons, though design modifications could see that increase to 50 tons. And with its ability to land on not only solid ground, but also water, desert, and ice, the Airlander could fulfill a range of roles — including research, surveillance, cargo transportation, and passenger trips — pretty much anywhere on the planet.

The day before Saturday’s accident, the Airlander completed its sixth test flight since August 2016.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The world’s largest X-ray laser is one step closer to completion
worlds largest x ray laser project milestone 2017 01 04 xfel xtl dn mx2 1876 hdr

The world’s largest X-ray laser is one step closer to completion after researchers at Germany’s Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) announced that they've passed a major milestone in its development.

The laser, known as the European XFEL, will one day let scientists capture images of atomic elements on a previously unimaginably tiny scale. That’s thanks to the European XFEL’s ability to flash up to 27,000 X-ray laser illuminations in one second. These flashes are so brief and so intense that they’ll allow researchers to take pictures of structures and processes down to an atomic level.

Read more
Kingston’s “world’s largest” flash drive comes with a rather large price tag
kingston digital datatraveler ultimate gt

Kingston Digital is claiming the “world’s largest” title with the launch of its latest DataTraveler USB-based flash drive. That is because the new model provides storage capacities of up to 2TB, depending on the unit. It’s sold as the DataTraveler Ultimate GT (short for generation terabyte) and connects via a USB 3.0 port (or what’s now called USB 3.1 Gen1) for fast data transfers.

Here are the specs:

Read more
The largest police force in the U.S. shuns iOS and Android, goes with Windows Phones
Nokia Lumia 830

At this point, it is fair to say that smartphones have been around for more than a few years. You would not know it if you were a New York Police Department officer, however, since it took the largest police force in the U.S. until 2015 to issue smartphones and email addresses. What smartphones did the NYPD choose, you ask? The Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, reports CNET.

The NYPD's decision to go with Microsoft's mobile operating system seems to confound more than a few, since Windows Phone's 2.3 percent U.S. market share is anemic when compared to Android's 65.2 percent and iOS' 30.9 percent. According to the report, however, the NYPD did look closely at the two latter platforms before opting for the former, arguing that its decision came down to better security features and remote management.

Read more