Drone crash at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019

The futuristic vehicle span out of control and flew high into the sky before plummeting to the ground and crashing in an empty field, a witness from the Mirror Online reported.

The incident happened during a test flight of the Alauda Airspeeder prototype at Goodwood Festival of Speed yesterday.

The vehicle was unmanned and was being controlled remotely by a member of Alauda's team.

Speaking at the event, Alauda's founder Matt Pearson said: "We didn’t promise a soft landing. 

"That’s the thing with early technology, these things happen.”

But the tech firm is planning to have manned flying cars racing in a Grand Prix event next year.

The Alauda Airspeeder at Goodwood Festival of Speed yesterday. Credit: Mirror Online

The Airspeeder website claimed the electric-powered air speeders would have a top speed of 124mph offering "the same power to weight ratio as a fighter jet" and being "completely controlled from within the vehicle".

It added: "Since motoring was invented, we’ve had motor racing.

"Now that motoring is taking to the sky, it’s time for racing to do the same.

"Airspeeder is pushing the limits of Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles.

"Our firm belief is that the technology underpinning commercial, widespread adoption of flying cars needs to be challenged and pushed beyond its limit."

Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said they were sent to an accident involving an “unmanned aerial vehicle” near a popular festival yesterday.

A spokesman for the AAIB said: “The AAIB has sent a team to investigate an accident involving an unmanned aerial vehicle.

“The AAIB has sent a team to investigate an accident involving an unmanned aerial vehicle that occurred near Goodwood, West Sussex.”

Did you see what happened?

If so, we would like to hear from you.

Call 01273 021374 or contact The Argus at harry.bullmore@theargus.co.uk