[12], The six aircraft crew were Spanish employees of Airbus Defence and Space. [10]:24[11] The member of the CAA was 58-year-old Jeremy Cook. The Ministry confirmed that its specialist aerospace unit had met with Airbus to discuss flight permits, and that further permits relating to the plane program could be granted in the coming days. [17] The investigation was led by the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), with the participation of its counterparts from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). XL Airways Germany Flight 888T (GXL888T) was an acceptance flight for an Airbus A320 executed on 27 November 2008. "Having undertaken and completed a series of thorough checks on the UK's A400M aircraft and how it is operated, the RAF is now satisfied that the additional processes and procedures introduced means it is now safe for the RAF to resume flying," the UK Ministry of Defence said. This resulted in the system's stall-protection functions responding incorrectly to the stall, making the situation worse, instead of better. However the plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, 7 km (4.3 mi; 3.8 nmi) off Canet-en-Roussillon on the French coast, close to the Spanish border, killing all seven people on board. [21], Five safety recommendations were made following examination of the particulars of the crash. Airbus said on 12 May 2015, "It is too early to know what impact [Spain's] decision will have on the supply chain. [28], Several reports suggested that as many as three of the aircraft's four engines failed during the A400M's departure from Seville. Specialists from Airbus and from International Aero Engines (IAE, the manufacturer of the aircraft's engines), from XL Airways Germany (operator of the aircraft), and from Air New Zealand (the owner of the aircraft), were associated with the work of the technical investigation. [17], Airbus Chief Strategy Officer Marwan Lahoud confirmed on 29 May that incorrectly installed engine control software caused the fatal crash. [23] The UK Royal Air Force lifted its suspension on A400M flights on 16 June 2015, followed the next day by the Turkish Air Force. Star XL German Airlines (as XL Airways Germany was named at the time) took delivery of the aircraft on 25 May 2006. The FAL has also completed the build of four aircraft for the United Kingdom, which will now undergo pre-delivery checks and trials before being flown to Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Airbus Industrie Flight 129was an Airbus IndustrieA330-321test flightthat ended in a crash on 30 June 1994 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, killing all seven people aboard. Christian Schott, part of Wunstorf's 10-strong operational testing and evaluation team, said, "the problems that led to the crash in Seville can be been [sic] ruled out for our A400M...our aircraft has been thoroughly checked. [10]:15–20, Two bodies were recovered within hours of the crash; the others were found during later weeks. Four crew members died and two were injured in a Spanish air force cargo plane that crashed on a test flight near Seville airport on Saturday, Airbus Defence and Space have announced. Once approved and certified, the aircraft is cleared for service. [18][19], About twenty A400Ms are currently[when?] Aviation giant Airbus says it remains committed to trials of unmanned aircraft in WA's far north, despite two test flights resulting in two crashes. [2], The aircraft was on a flight test (or "acceptance flight") for which it had taken off from Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport, made an overflight of Gaillac, and was flying back to Perpignan Airport, doing an approach over the sea. [9] As of May 2015[update], Airbus had delivered just 12 of the 174 ordered and the programme had been plagued by persistent quality issues, both in the final assembly facility in Spain, and in Germany. All seven people aboard died. [15][16], The investigators' interest focused on the air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU) following recent similar incidents involving Airbus A330s operated by Qantas, exhibiting sudden uncommanded manoeuvring (including Qantas Flight 72). At 15:33, the aircraft started back towards Perpignan Airport, but at 15:46 UTC during final approach, the aircraft suddenly disappeared from the radar screens. He was President of the leading French pilots' union, the SNPL, at the time an Airbus A320 Pilot Lt.Col. [24] The first German Air Force A400M to fly post crash took off from Wunstorf air base on July 14, 2015. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. The last test flown was to certify the plane's takeoff capability with a single engine failure. The numbered events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur. [18][19], Analysis of the data led to an interim finding that the crew lost control of the aircraft. As specified in the Structure Repair Manual by Airbus, fitting a protection device on AOA sensors before these tasks is mandatory. The A330 crash in Toulouse was of particular concern because the plane was being flown by Airbus' chief test pilot, which would suggest that pilot error was not the cause. [3][4][5][6] At the time of the crash it was due to be delivered back to Air New Zealand and re-registered as ZK-OJL. One of the tests that the crew unofficially fit into their flight was a test of low-speed flight, which they attempted after already dropping to a low altitude (rather than the normal 10,000 feet), while descending through 3000 feet on full autopilot for a go-around. By 15:46:00, the warning had silenced as the aircraft regained speed in a rapid descent, but 6 seconds later, at 263 knots, the aircraft had only 340 feet elevation and was 14° nose down. Usable data from the recorders was later recovered by Honeywell Aerospace in the United States. There appeared to have been a trimming issue, leading to strong banking that was not recoverable and that the fuel supply was re-established, but not quickly enough for recovery to safe flight. A second later, the aircraft crashed into the water.[20]. The extracting system we are using belongs to the French defense procurement agency DGA," Caïtucoli said, noting that the problem appeared to be a compatibility issue between the recorders and the DGA's data reading system, rather than an issue with the condition of the recorders themselves. An Airbus A330-300 aircraft crashed during a test flight at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France, killing all seven on board. The jet crashed in the sea near the French city of Perpignan from where it had taken off. In a statement sent to Air Force Technology Airbus confirmed the crash occurred on 28 of September. It first flew on 30 June 2005, and was delivered to Air New Zealand's low-cost subsidiary Freedom Air with the registration ZK-OJL. [10], The story of the accident was featured on the 13th season of Canadian television show Mayday, an episode entitled "Imperfect Pitch". Air France Flight 296 was a chartered flight of a new Airbus A320-111 operated by Air France for Air Charter. [10]:24[12], The aircraft departed Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport at 14:44 UTC. [8][9], The captain was 51-year-old Norbert Käppel, who had been with the airline since 24 August 1987. On 26 June 1988, the plane crashed while making a low pass over Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport (ICAO airport code LFGB) as part of the Habsheim Air Show. The flight took place immediately following light maintenance and repainting to Air New Zealand livery on the aircraft, done in preparation for its transfer from XL Airways Germany, which had been leasing it, to Air New Zealand, the owner. The Airbus-built cargo and troop carrier crashed near Seville during a test flight in May 2015, killing four of the six crew, after three out of four engines froze minutes after take-off. [7], Seven people were on board, two Germans (the captain and first officer, from XL Airways) and five New Zealanders (one pilot, three aircraft engineers, and one member of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA)). XL Airways Germany Flight 888T (GXL888T) was an acceptance flight for an Airbus A320 executed on 27 November 2008. The A330 crash in Toulouse was of particular concern because the plane was being flown by Airbus' chief test pilot, which would suggest that pilot error was not the cause. In a sign of the company's confidence in the plane, the boss of Airbus Military, Fernando Alonso, was onboard the flight that took off from the company's Toulouse, France headquarters for Seville, site of Saturday's crash. An Airbus Zephyr high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has crashed while on a test flight in Australia, marking the second crash this year. Two bodies have been recovered and five people are missing. Actual video of the crash of Air France flight 296. [1][2][3][4], The aircraft, serial number MSN023, was on its first pre-delivery test flight and was scheduled to be the third A400M to be delivered to the Turkish Air Force. On 9 May 2015, an Airbus A400M Atlas cargo plane on a test flight crashed at La Rinconada, Spain, less than 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Seville Airport at around 1:00 pm local time, killing 4 of the 6 crew. An Airbus A330-300 aircraft crashed during a test flight at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France, killing all seven on board. 27 November 2008; XL Airways Germany A320-200; D-AXLA; near Perpignan, France : The aircraft had been leased to XL Airways Germany and a flight test crew, along with an Air New Zealand civil aviation inspector, were conducting a test flight prior to the aircraft being returned to its owner, Air New Zealand. [18] In a letter to employees on 11 May 2015, Airbus chairman Tom Enders said, "We want to show our clients and air forces that we are fully confident in this excellent transport plane." Four of them were killed and the remaining two were seriously injured. [29] Airbus initially focused on whether the crash was caused by new management software for the engine-fuel supply, designed to trim the fuel tanks to permit the aircraft to fly certain military maneuvers. Airbus Industrie Flight 129 was an Airbus Industrie A330-321 test flight that ended in a crash on 30 June 1994 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, killing all seven people aboard.The last test flown was to certify the plane's takeoff capability with a single engine failure. [10]:22–23, The pilot from New Zealand was 52-year-old Brian Horrell, who had been with Air New Zealand since September 1986. FACT: If you can ORDER a PIZZA online, you can MAKE MONEY with this SYSTEM. On 9 May 2015, an Airbus A400M Atlas cargo plane on a test flight crashed at La Rinconada, Spain, less than 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Seville Airport at around 1:00 pm local time, killing 4 of the 6 crew. [34], Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain. [1][2] The delivery was scheduled for June 2015. The aircraft's computers received conflicting information from the three AOA sensors. This aircraft, MSN019, is the seventh to be delivered to France and the 13th to be delivered in all. Käppel had logged a total of 12,709 flight hours, including 7,038 hours on the Airbus A320. [26], The Spanish government confirmed on 10 May 2015 that the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder had been recovered. He was leader of the French air force's aerobatics team and, later, a Boeing 747 Flight Captain with Air France. [14], In late December, French investigators attempted to retrieve data from the CVR and FDR, but they could not be read. On 27 November 2008, XL Airways Germany Flight 888T, a test flight of an A320-232 stalled in a low speed test and control could not be regained, causing the aircraft to crash into the sea off the southern French coast. The stall warning function, though, was still available, and was triggered during the last phase of the flight. The primary cause of the accident was that the crew attempted an improvised test of the AOA warning system, not knowing that it was not functioning properly due to the inoperative sensors. The test flight was part of the preparation required to certify the autopilot, on this Airbus A330 equipped with Pratt and Whitney engines, to category III standards. "[33] On 3 June 2015 Airbus announced that investigators had confirmed "that engines one, two and three experienced power frozen [sic] after lift-off and did not respond to the crew's attempts to control the power setting in the normal way. Airbus on Tuesday carried out the first test flight of a new A400M since one of the military transport planes crashed in Spain over the weekend, killing four people. He had been a first officer on the Airbus A320 since April 2006. The aircraft had been overhauled by a local French company located at the Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport prior to its return off lease. Moreover, the stall warning in normal law was not possible. Airbus test flight in deadly crash. The test flight was part of the preparation required to certify the autopilot, on this Airbus A330 equipped with Pratt and Whitney engines, to category III standards. [10]:21–22, The first officer was 58-year-old Theodor Ketzer, who had been with the airline since 2 March 1988. Workers at Airbus factories around the world observed a moment of silence for the victims of Saturday's crash, the first of an Three local men helped the two survivors, a mechanic and an engineer, escape from the wreckage. [5] The aircraft, number MSN23,[6] was being flown by an Airbus Defence and Space test crew[4][7][8] and used the callsign CASA423. [21], Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile, 2008 aeroplane crash into the Mediterranean Sea, D-AXLA, the aircraft involved, seen in June 2008, Aviation accidents and incidents in France, Includes overseas departments and overseas territories, Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, Transport Accident Investigation Commission, List of accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320 family, "Crash: Air New Zealand A320 near Perpignan on Nov 27th 2008, impacted Mediterranean Sea", "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A320-232 D-AXLA Canet-Plage", "Five New Zealanders feared dead after Air NZ plane crashes", "At least two dead after Air NZ owned plane crashes in France", "XL Airways Germany D-AXLA (Airbus A320 - MSN 2500) (Ex ZK-OJL )", "Airbus A320 crashes into sea off France", "No hope of survivors in New Zealand jet crash off France: official", "Accident on 27 November 2008 off the coast of Canet-Plage (66) to the Airbus A320-232 registered D-AXLA operated by XL Airways Germany", "Crash de l'A320 : Un troisième corps retrouvé en mer", "Air NZ crash: Damaged black box will give answers – investigator", Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'Aviation Civile, "Air NZ hopeful black box data will provide clue to crash", Accident to an Airbus A320-232 registered D-AXLA operated by XL Airways Germany on November 27, 2008 near Canet-Plage, Accident d'un Airbus A320-232 immatriculé D-AXLA exploité par XL Airways Germany survenu survenu le 27 novembre 2008 au large de Canet-Plage, Accidents and Incidents during Non-Revenue Flights —, "When a Flight Crew Trusts a Plane Too Much", March 1952 Air France SNCASE Languedoc crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=XL_Airways_Germany_Flight_888T&oldid=998517522, Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by ice, Articles with dead external links from December 2011, Articles with dead external links from September 2013, Articles with dead external links from August 2020, Articles with dead external links from October 2016, Short description is different from Wikidata, Use New Zealand English from September 2017, All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English, Start-date transclusions with invalid parameters, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Stall during improvised flight test due to angle-of-attack sensor icing, This page was last edited on 5 January 2021, at 19:03. "The black boxes attest to that there are no structural defects [with the aircraft], but we have a serious quality problem in the final assembly. The aircraft was due to be delivered to another NATO customer, Turkey, and was on its maiden test flight when it crashed in a field one mile (1.6 km) north of Seville’s San Pablo airport. But as hundreds of spectators looked on, the plane plowed into a forest and crashed, sending fire billowing up over the airfield. THERE is no hope of finding survivors from the Air NZ Airbus A320 jet that crashed into the ocean during a test flight, an official says. In this specific case, this programming logic led to the rejection of the correct value from the one operative AOA sensor, and to the acceptance of the two consistent, but wrong, values from the two inoperative sensors. [13] The crash area was declared a crime scene and the French justice system opened a manslaughter investigation. 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