The crash of Norway’s first electric aircraft is being portrayed by local media as a blow to the country’s plan to electrify all domestic aviation by 2040.
The two-seat aircraft, owned by Norwegian airport operator Avinor, crashed in a lake Aug. 14 after losing power.
Light-aircraft crashes caused by power failure are far from rare, but the aircraft involved—a Pipistrel Alpha Electro—is the first of its kind in Norway and was being piloted by Avinor's CEO Dag Falk-Petersen with State Secretary Aase Marthe J. Horrigmo as the passenger. Neither were injured.
Developed by Slovenia’s Pipistrel, the battery-powered Electro is the first production electric aircraft and has been used by Avinor since 2018 to showcase the potential of electric aviation. The 1,210-lb Electro has been certified as a light sport aircraft and has a 50-kW electric motor and 21 kWh battery providing a flight endurance of 60 min. plus reserves.
The aircraft had taken off from Arendal airport, southwest of Oslo. Falk-Petersen told Norwegian newspaper VG they were heading toward the airport when there was a signal that something was wrong with the power, which then weakened and failed.
The reason for the power failure is not yet known. More than 60 Alpha Electros have been delivered and Aviation Safety Network lists two other accidents: one in Switzerland in January in which the aircraft made an emergency landing when power failed shortly after takeoff, and one fatality in the Netherlands in October 2018 when an aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances.
Electric aircraft are still rare and accidents attract attention. After the fatal crash of a two-seat Magnus eFusion hybrid-electric aircraft in Hungary in May 2018, speculation quickly focused on the lithium-ion battery-electric propulsion, but the accident investigation found no evidence of a system failure.
Several startups developing hybrid-electric aircraft have been engaging with Avinor, which operates Norway’s 44 state-owned airports, as well as Norwegian carrier Wideroe Airlines. These include Ampaire and Wright Electric in the US, France’s VoltAero and Sweden’s Heart Aerospace. All are planning to develop small hybrid-electric regional airliners with between 9 and 19 seats