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I don't doubt this concept could ferry people around. But its safety margin is razor thin. 60s reserve? That is barely time for an operator to figure out where to ditch.

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If I'm reading it correctly, they're claiming 60s of reserve at hover. That would translate to roughly 10m of reserve in level flight.

On a windy day or two, I've done multiple go-arounds in a fixed wing aircraft. In low weather, missing an approach to land is also relatively common.

"Don't worry, your pilot has 60 seconds of reserve with which to land safely" is terrifying rather than reassuring.

I have a helipad on the building next to mine. Being that it can get fairly windy and rainy in the tropics, those guys have balls of steel anyway.

But those approaches do take more than 60s for sure.

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