By Skies Magazine | January 23, 2020 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 57 seconds.
Eviation’s fully electric aircraft, Alice, reportedly caught fire while engaging in ground testing at the Prescott Regional Airport in Prescott, Ariz., on Jan. 22.
The Alice is an all-electric aircraft with room for nine aimed for the regional market. The aircraft turned heads at the Paris Air Show in 2019, where it debuted for the first time, and its first flight was set for early 2020.
The Alice is powered by three MagniX electric motors, which is the same company that built the electric engine for the successful first flight of Harbour Air’s ePlane — a converted de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver — in December of last year.
No injuries connected to the fire have been reported and Eviation, along with the Prescott Fire Department, have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident which is believed to have been caused by a ground-based battery system being used during testing.
The airport reported that no commercial flights had been affected by the blaze, and that airport operations returned to normal shortly after firefighters extinguished the flames.
Eviation has stated it plans to introduce the Alice into the market by 2022; however, it is unclear how this fire will impact that timeline. So far, over 150 Alice aircraft have been ordered by a pair of American companies.
