The manufacturers' air taxis continue to crash and burn during the experimental stages, without killing or injuring anyone from these accidents, while America prepares to certify a number of them by 2024, according to Bloomberg Agency.
The agency indicated that one of the prototypes of an air taxi had a programming glitch and a loss of control; This made her fall into a field, while another car's computer thought she was on the ground; As a result, the power was cut off during flight and it fell on the sidewalk, while the batteries of two other cars caught fire.
Attempts by companies to produce "air taxis" in order to develop a new family of flying machines to transport people and goods through traffic-clogged cities comes with billions of dollars in investment and extensive commitments.
But according to a Bloomberg review of related reports dating back to 2018, some of the biggest companies in aviation have had accidents testing these vehicles, including Boeing and its subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, Textron's Bell helicopter division, and German taxi pioneer Lilium NV.
No one has been killed or injured in these accidents, and advocates for the technology say the accidents are a healthy sign that the industry is breaking traditional boundaries.
But the new electric, or vertical take-off, vehicles use innovative technologies that have not been tested in routine service, and some safety experts say this means the path to government approval and public acceptance will not be easy.