The World’s Longest Aircraft Takes a Nosedive

The world's longest aircraft, the Airlander 10, sometimes referred to as “the flying bum” (for obvious reasons), came into contact with “high voltage power cables” before nosediving on landing, an electricity firm told the BBC.

Developers of the Airlander 10 had denied witness reports the airship struck a telegraph pole during its “heavy landing” on Wednesday.

The £25m Airlander, which is 302ft (92m) long, was damaged during its second test flight from Cardington Airfield, Bedfordshire.

Chief Executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles, Stephen McGlennan, told the BBC the aircraft was being fully assessed by a team of experts.

“They'll create a plan to repair the front end where there was some damage,” he said.

Mr McGlennan also said investors in the Airland project had been “very supportive” since the landing.

“They understand a business like this is involved in innovation, innovation is the business of doing things and sometimes when you do things for the first time, sometimes it doesn't work out quite how you'd hoped.”

He confirmed two pilots walked away from the landing “without a scratch”.

Mr McGlennan said he did not think the “heavy landing” would cause a “substantial change” to the future schedule of test flights and development.

“We are investigating in the way that a normal aerospace company would,” he said.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed it had been notified about the incident and was investigating, but had not sent a team to the site.

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