Attempt to fly hoverboard across English Channel ends in failure
Franky Zapata started the flight from Sangatte in France. | Photo: DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images
A French inventor’s attempt to become the first man to cross the English Channel on a hoverboard has ended in failure after he crashed while trying to land on a re-fueling station in the middle of the Channel, BBC News reports. Franky Zapata, who invented the jet-powered Flyboard Air, took off from near Calais earlier this morning, and had hoped to make the crossing to St Margaret’s Bay on the English coast in around 20 minutes.
Zapata, who was not injured by his fall into the water, had previously indicated that he only thought he had around a 30 percent chance of successfully making the crossing. Nevertheless, his failure suggests that the difficulty of piloting the noisy Flyboard Air means it has limited practical use. The inventor…
