On Thursday evening, May 11, the DEP-SFD, a scaled unmanned aerial vehicle, caught fire. The emergency services quickly arrived at the scene. There is no case of personal injury.
The DEP-SFD (Distributed Electric Propulsion Scaled Flight Demonstrator) caught fire at the NLR parking lot in Amsterdam while conducting ground tests. NLR conducts this kind of necessary testing to make new technology available to aviation. As far as is known, there were no problems with the electric-powered aircraft at the time the crew began conducting tests.
The emergency services were on site quickly and extinguished the vehicle, removed the batteries and defused them. The aerial vehicle can be considered lost. There is no case of personal injury or other material damage, partly due to the risk assessment carried out in advance.
At this time, we are unable to say anything about the cause of the fire. NLR will work with partners to identify the cause. As soon as there is more to report about the circumstances, we will ensure to post it on our website.
Taxi tests of the DEP-SFD at Deelen Air Base, end of March 2023.
