Airbus A400M Military Transport Aircraft Crashes On A First Production Flight

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Airbus A400M Military Transport Aircraft Crashes On A First Production Flight

May 10, 2015 - On Saturday, an Airbus A400M, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft cashed in Spain near San Pablo Airport in Seville, Spain. Airbus' Airbus Defense and Space division reported of the six crew members onboard four crew members were killed and two other crew members, mechanic and an engineer are currently in hospital in a serious condition.

All crew members are Airbus Defense and Space employees of Spanish nationality. The A400M aircraft, MSN023, was making its first production flight, it had departed San Pablo Airport at about 12:45 PM local time. About 15 minutes into the flight, the pilot contacted air traffic control to report a technical failure that required an emergency landing.

The pilot was given vectors back to the airport by ATC, within minutes, the Airbus A400M crashed in a field, about 1 mile north of the Airport when it collided with a transmission tower (electricity pylon) while attempting the landing. It was reported that wreckage was strewn across a wide area and the aircraft had caught on fire.

An Airbus Group go-team of technical advisors has been dispatched to provide full assistance to the official committee in charge of the investigation. This incident is Airbus' first crash of an A400M.

In March 2013, Airbus received certification on the A400M military transport aircraft and in August 2013, the French Air Force received Airbus' first A400M (MSN7) aircraft.

France and Germany are the major purchasers of the A400M aircraft. France has ordered 50 aircraft and have received 6 aircraft. Germany has ordered 53 aircraft and has received one aircraft. Currently there are 12 A400M in service. Airbus has 174 orders of the A400M military transport aircraft with a completed delivery date of 2020. MSN023 aircraft was scheduled for delivery for June 2015 to the Turkish Air Force, this would have been their third A400M aircraft.

Germany

, France and the UK have suspended flight operations of the A400M until there is more information on the cause of the crash. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France will only permit “priority flights in operations already underway”. On Sunday Spanish authorities reported the two cockpit recorders have been located at the crash site.