Boeing self-driving passenger air vehicle completes its first test flight

Boeing’s self-flying passenger air vehicle completed its first test flight in Manassas, Virginia. The prototype successfully completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the flight. Tests were conducted to check the vehicle's autonomous functions and ground control systems.

In future, test will be conducted to check test forward, wing-borne flight, as well as the transition phase between vertical and forward-flight modes. The most significant engineering challenge for any high-speed VTOL aircraft is the transition phase.

Steve Nordlund, Vice President and General Manager, Boeing NeXt said, "Boeing was there when the aviation industry was born and in our second century, we will unlock the potential of the urban air mobility market.”

Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences was utilised by Boeing Next, which leads the company’s urban air mobility efforts to design and develop the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and they will continue to test the safety and reliability of on-demand autonomous air transportation.

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