By Imran Rahman-Jones
Two flying cars crashed into each other at a rehearsal for an air show in China which was meant to be a showcase for the technology.
The Xpeng AeroHT vehicles collided in mid-air, with one catching fire during landing, the company said in a statement to Reuters.
The company said people at the scene were safe, but CNN reported one person was injured in the crash, citing an anonymous company employee.
The rehearsals on Tuesday were for the Changchun Air Show, set to start later this week in north-east China.
Footage on Chinese social media site Weibo appeared to show a flaming vehicle on the ground which was being attended to by fire engines.
One vehicle “sustained fuselage damage and caught fire upon landing,” Xpeng AeroHT said in a statement to CNN.
“All personnel at the scene are safe, and local authorities have completed on-site emergency measures in an orderly manner,” it added.
The electric flying cars take off and land vertically, and the company is hoping to sell them for around $300,000 (£220,000) each.
In January, Xpeng claimed to have around 3,000 orders for the vehicle. The Chinese company is one of the largest manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world, recently expanding into Europe.
The flying cars are made by its subsidiary, AeroHT. The vehicles were filmed flying before the crash. There are still considerable hurdles for this form of transport in terms of infrastructure, regulation and public acceptance.
However, some analysts say China is attempting to replicate the success it has had with EVs, by pushing early adoption of a tech that will eventually become widely used. It has said it wants to lead the world in the “low-altitude economy”.
Last year, a pioneering European flying car firm was bought by a Chinese firm.
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