Larry Page's air taxi startup loses one of its key designers

Kitty Hawk might have the backing of Google's Larry Page, but that doesn't mean things are going smoothly. Forbes has learned that Kitty Hawk dropped key engineer Damon Vander Lind in May after "months" of fighting with Page and CEO Sebastian Thrun over the company's strategy. Page and Thrun want to build a larger version of the Heaviside air taxi that autonomously carries two passengers with a remote pilot as backup, but Vander Lind reportedly felt this was "too risky." There were also accusations that Vander Lind was unreceptive to ideas and at times hostile to staff, Forbes sources claimed. Kitty Hawk further dealt with separate complaints of sexism.