Make New York Post a Preferred Source A futuristic jet triggered an evacuation Tuesday and left three people injured when its batteries sparked a chain reaction.
A white Archer eVTOL aircraft in flight against a clear blue sky. The Archer Aviation Inc. Midnight aircraft sits at the company’s flight test facility in Salinas, California, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. Archer is preparing to bring an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to market in 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images Archer Aviation said the incident at the San Jose facility involved 30 Molicel batteries and can be attributed to an “employee error,” according to KRON.
Molicel is a battery manufacturer and describes a thermal runaway as “a dangerous chain reaction in lithium batteries, causing the battery to overheat, potentially fail, catch fire, or even explode.”
The three people injured have since been released, and all evacuations have been lifted.
The company said the affected batteries have been transported to a remediation station and submerged into a suppression tank. A fire watch team will stand guard over the batteries until Wednesday morning.
A contractor, Republic Services, will dispose of the batteries and clean up wherever necessary.
Archer Aviation is set to lead the way as the exclusive air taxi provider for L.A. LIVE, AEG’s sprawling four-million-square-foot sports and entertainment district adjacent to Crypto.com Arena with a proposed vertiport in downtown Los Angeles.
The company’s Midnight aircraft, an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle designed for urban areas, will transport fans, athletes, artists and other visitors directly to and from the downtown entertainment district without relying on the city’s notoriously congested roads.
Archer Aviation is hoping to be the top air transport provider for the 2028 LA Olympic Games as well.
“We see this as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to add a flagship downtown location to our planned Los Angeles air taxi network ahead of the LA28 Games,” Archer CEO and founder Adam Goldstein said.
The California Post reached out to Archer Aviation for comment.
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