LAT Aerospace prototype aircraft crashes during ground roll test

A prototype aircraft developed by LAT Aerospace crashed yesterday during a ground roll test near Saifai, cofounder Surobhi Das said in a LinkedIn post on Saturday.

The company has also acknowledged the incident on X.

The development comes after LAT Aerospace completed a test flight of its latest technology demonstrator, Lat One v0.2, on Thursday.


According to preliminary information shared by Das, the incident occurred while the experimental aircraft was undergoing a routine ground roll test in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district.

“Strong winds caused loss of control, and immediate crash,” Das wrote.

The crash caused damage to a local farmer’s wheat field. Das confirmed that the team has already contacted the farmer and ensured full compensation for the loss.

LAT Aerospace has indicated it will use the findings to refine its testing protocols.

“We’re early in development. Crashes are part of building aircraft. We’ll learn from this, tighten our test protocols, and keep going,” she said.

LAT Aerospace is one of three startup ventures founded by former Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal in March last year.

The startup aims to build ultra-short takeoff and landing (uSTOL) aircraft capable of taking off and landing within just 20-50 metres, while maintaining strong cruise performance. This would eliminate the need for extensive airport infrastructure, Goyal said earlier.

ET was the first to report in March last year that Goyal had invested $20 million in the company. In November 2025, the company moved to a 50,000 square foot research and development (R&D) facility in Gurugram. In February this year, LAT Aerospace acquired the defence robotics startup Sharang Shakti.

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