 The prize-winning flight came on the last day of five days of testing, and just minutes before the group was scheduled to vacate the premises.After a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale panel verified the feat, the $250,000 prize was awarded on 11 July 2013.Presenting the prize, American Helicopter Society director Mike Hirschberg remarked "Several studies 'proved' that [the challenge] was in fact scientifically impossible ... Well, it took a third of a century to prove those skeptics wrong."