Ouch.
Two flying cars collided with each other during an airshow rehearsal in Changchun, a city in northeastern China.
Videos on social media show emergency response vehicles at the scene as a big plume of dark smoke billows from one of the wrecks.
Fortunately, it doesn't sound like anybody involved in the crash between the two electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, developed by the Xpeng AeroHT subsidiary of EV giant Xpeng, was seriously hurt.
However, one unnamed company employee told CNN that one pilot had sustained minor injuries.
"All personnel at the scene are safe, and local authorities have completed on-site emergency measures in an orderly manner," the company said in a statement to the broadcaster.
#BREAKING | Two Xpeng Aeroht flying cars collided during a rehearsal for China’s Changchun Air Show, with one catching fire after landing. One passenger sustained non-serious injuries, per Bloomberg. pic.twitter.com/aCaaJRPWci — The Global Eye (@TGEThGlobalEye) September 17, 2025
The two aircraft, which feature six large rotors each, collided due to "insufficient spacing," according to the statement. One of them "sustained fuselage damage and caught fire upon landing."
Xpeng AeroHT's flying cars are part of China's ambitious plans to realize a "low-altitude economy" up to two thousand feet above the ground. The Communist Party has endorsed the development of the vehicles in an attempt to turn them into an everyday reality, as The Economist reported earlier this year.
And given its EV and battery manufacturing prowess, China is in a powerful position to do just that.
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