Airbus A400M Makes First Flight After Seville Crash

প্রকাশিত: 14 May 2015, 4:24:57 pm

Airbus on Tuesday carried out its first test flight of an A400M military transporter since Saturday’s fatal crash in Spain that led some European countries to ground the aircraft.

Madrid earlier on Tuesday withdrew flight permission for planes currently in production in Spain until more is known about the causes of the crash, which killed four crew members.

Britain, Germany and Turkey grounded their A400M fleets after the crash, the first involving the airlifter, which has been marred by delays and cost overruns.

Airbus has its own fleet of A400Ms, which it uses for test flights. These planes are not affected by the Spanish ban.

One of the transporters took off from Toulouse around 14:45 (2.45 pm) local time, bound for Seville, as Airbus sought to restore confidence in the aircraft.

The planes are assembled in Seville.

The A400M Atlas was developed for Spain and six other European NATO nations – Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Turkey – at a cost of EUR€20 billion (USD$22 billion), making it Europe’s biggest single military contract.

Problems in delivering the planes on time, and with the required military features on board, resurfaced last year, triggering a management shake-up and more financial charges.