The AVCEN Jetpod was a design proposal for a very quiet aircraft that could take off and land in short distances (STOL), developed by Avcen Limited, a company incorporated on 18 October 1988 which became a subsidiary of the Hong Kong–based company, Profit Sky Group Ltd.[1] A number of applications were proposed, including as a military transport, an executive transport, and as a short to medium-range air taxi.
Avcen Limited was the British-based headquarters while Avcen Limited Malaysia was based at Patimas Technology Centre, Technology Park, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.
[2] According to Avcen's publicity materials, the Jetpod's maximum speed was designed to be 550 km/h (340 mph; 300 kn).
[citation needed] At 12:30 p.m. on the 16th of August, 2009[3] a just-completed prototype Jetpod crashed, killing the founder of Avcen, Michael Robert Dacre, who was the sole occupant.
Dacre had attempted to take off three times and on the fourth successfully lifted off and climbed to 200 meters.