An AW609 has crashed today killing two pilots.
An AgustaWestland AW609 prototype has crashed near Santhià, in northwestern Italy, killing two test pilots on Oct. 30.
The tilt-rotor aircraft had taken off from Agusta’s airfield at Vergiate and the cause of the crash is still unknown.
According to the first reports the aircraft was in fire before it crashed into the ground.
The AW609 is a twin-engined next-gen tiltrotor VTOL aircraft: like the V-22 Osprey it is capable of taking off and landing vertically as a “normal” helicopter while having a range and speed in excess of conventional rotorcraft. The AW609 is aimed at civil aviation (both private and commercial operators), government and para-public roles: with space for 9 passengers it’s a multi-role aircraft that can be configured for passenger transport, search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime surveillance, training and government applications.
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Image credit: AgustaWestland
