Flying car company AeroMobil hit a setback this weekend when a prototype vehicle crashed during a test run in Slovakia.
The vehicle was being operated by its inventor, Stefan Klein, when he suddenly experienced an "unexpected situation" while flying 900 feet in the air, according to AeroMobil.
After the 3.0 prototype started going into a tailspin, the AeroMobil co-owner decided to activate the ballistic parachute system in order to land the vehicle.
Though the AeroMobil was damaged significantly during the landing, Klein only suffered "minor injuries" as a result of the parachute. He was taken to a nearby hospital after the landing and is expected to be fine.
"In the process of developing new vehicles, especially in the prototype phase, the possibility and likelihood of an unexpected situation is a natural part of the testing program," the company said regarding the incident in a statement. "This is a learning period which allows us to detect and subsequently refine our design."
#Aviationsafety AeroMobil flying car prototype damaged in #forcedlanding, #slovakia https://t.co/8qTwHI9CWE pic.twitter.com/zAGeZ1fbyf
— George Hatcher Sr. (@GeorgeHatcher) May 10, 2015
AeroMobil is analyzing data from the vehicle to figure out what happened while Klein was in the air.
Back in March, AeroMobil CEO Jurja Vaculik announced that the company plans on launching flying cars by 2017.
The May 8 incident should only be a small setback as AeroMobil plans on continuing testing of the AeroMobil 3.0 once the damaged parts have been replaced.
"It is necessary to test the prototype in every way possible to establish its limits and to improve on them," AeroMobil said in a statement. "The flight recording details will help us learn from the data and improve the performance of the vehicle prior to our next flight test."
The AeroMobil 3.0 has a 124 mph top speed as a plane and 100 mph limit as a car. It features collapsible wings, Rotax 912 engine, steel framework and fits two people.
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