Three Injured, 100 Evacuated After Battery Incident at Archer Aviation Facility
Employee error led to a thermal runaway event involving Molicel batteries at the San Jose site.
Three people sustained injuries and approximately 100 individuals were evacuated Tuesday following a battery incident at Archer Aviation's facility in San Jose, California. The event, which involved Molicel batteries, was attributed to employee error and resulted in a chain reaction that sparked a fire.
A thermal runaway, described by manufacturer Molicel as a dangerous chain reaction in lithium batteries, can cause overheating, potential failure, fire, or explosion. The incident occurred at Archer Aviation's San Jose facility.
Archer Aviation has stated that a fire watch team will monitor the batteries until Wednesday morning. The company is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with its Midnight model shown in flight and within a hangar at its Salinas, California facility in prior depictions.
