Harbour Air float planes going electric
Posted March 26, 2019 2:20 pm.
Last Updated March 27, 2019 6:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Richmond-based Harbour Air Seaplanes has teamed up with a Seattle-based startup company to work towards converting their aircraft to electric.
Harbour Air Group’s CEO, Greg McDougall says to do it, the airline has to meet the same safety standards that are in place now, or better.
“It’s an education process in terms of the reliability of it for the public, but electric motors have built-in redundancy of, essentially, four motors in one,” he says. “And the simplicity of electric motors makes them very, very reliable.”
He explains they plan to start with aircraft that fly short routes, and eventually expand to the whole fleet as battery technology evolves.
“We’re actually putting a prototype in the air, which we can do with the current regulatory environment, and doing the testing that would get us through the regulatory approval system so that we can certify it for commercial passenger flight.”
McDougall says the first flight of a prototype is scheduled for November, and electric flights will likely be available to the public a year or two after that.
