After the Flyboard crash, its inventor reveals the cause of the accident

The inventor of the Flyboard Air lost control of his jetpack during a demonstration. He reveals why he was forced to crash the craft into a lake.

This Saturday, May 28, Franky Zapata, the famous inventor of the Flyboard Air, participated in the International Meeting of Seaplanes in Biscarrosse in the Landes. The Marseillais, commonly nicknamed “the flying man”, had to perform several demonstrations throughout the weekend.

During a presentation, the 40-year-old climbed on his Flyboard Air in order to cross Lake Latécoère by air. Franky Zapata is not at his first attempt. In August 2019, the inventor succeeded in cross the Channel through its creation. He had traveled 35 kilometers between Sangatte and Dover on the machine. The same year, the pilot stood out during the July 14 parade landing on the Champs-Élysées.

Franky Zapata admits ‘overconfidence’

Unfortunately, the demonstration flight scheduled a few days ago did not go as planned. As numerous videos appearing on the web show, the pilot lost control of his vehicle futuristic. Just after takeoff, the Flyboard Air began to spin at an altitude of 15 meters. The craft then suddenly sank into the lake.

The rescue services quickly intervened to pull the inventor out of the water. Despite the force of the fall, he was conscious when rescuers pulled him out of the lake. He was transported to the nearest emergency room for examinations. Unsurprisingly, the next demonstration flights have been canceled.

The pilot quickly recovered from his misadventure. On his social media, he said come out unscathedpromising that the organized flight “was only a postponement”. At first, Franky Zapata suggested that his fall was caused by the “interference” generated by drones near the site.

Questioned by BFM TV on June 1, the professional pilot returned at length to the incident. Finally, the drones are not responsible for his fall. Entirely focused on the development of the Jetracer, a flying car powered by 10 turbojets, Zapata admits between the lines that he has lost the habit of his jetpack. “The Flyboard Air is atypical, it uses a different logic from the Jetracer. We missed it, it’s a bit of overconfidence ”, details Franky Zapata. He specifies that he knowingly steered the machine in the water: “the problem is that I did about thirty laps at two laps per second. So I remember arriving on the water not in a perfect state of consciousness”.

In development since 2019, the flying car Jetracer takes the form of an aircraft. On its website, Zapata, the inventor’s company, specifies that it favors speed and maneuverability over autonomy. First intended for the American market, the racing car will be unveiled by the end of the current year.