A330 Incident
From AFP:
TOULOUSE, France : Six people were in hospital, two with serious injuries, on Wednesday after a depressurisation incident during the test flight of an Airbus A330 to be delivered to Air Mauritius, firefighters said.
European manufacturer Airbus said two of the 10 people on board the wide-body commercial passenger plane at the time of the test suffered various kinds of injuries and four were undergoing tests for health problems due to the depressurisation.
The six were in a hospital in the southwestern city of Toulouse where Airbus is based.
A company spokeswoman said two people would remain under observation in hospital on Wednesday night after having been "unconscious for a while".
Firefighters said those hospitalised were suffering from spine injuries and ear drum problems.
"Because of a sudden depressurisation the pilot pulled the plane down quickly, in line with procedure, causing those on board standing or walking about to fall," said Airbus.
The plane landed normally at Toulouse-Blagnac airport.
On November 15 an Airbus A340-600 carrying out engine tests crashed into an anti-noise barrier at Toulouse airport, injuring 10 people.
Two of the passengers and another person on the ground were seriously injured.
The four-engined plane was destined for Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways. It can carry between 380 and 472 passengers depending on the model. - AFP/de