Reuters wire
(Reuters) - An Air New Zealand
Airbus A320 aircraft on a test flight crashed into the sea off
France's southwest coast on Thursday, killing at least one
person with a further six still missing, officials said.
"An aircraft crashed at around 5.00 p.m. (1600 GMT) off the
coast near Perpignan. It was an A320," said a spokesman for the
maritime prefecture, the regional authority that covers the area
in southwestern France.
The A320 is manufactured by Airbus, a unit of European
aerospace group EADS.
"Seven people were involved. We have recovered one dead
body," another spokesman for the Pyrenees-Orientales prefecture,
in southwestern France said.
The Pyrenees-Orientales prefecture said the plane was on a
"technical flight" and was being serviced by a company based in
Perpignan, a southwestern city on the Mediterranean coast.
Officials from the DGAC, the French civil aviation authority
were checking reports of the crash.
There was no immediate comment from Airbus, a unit of
European aerospace group EADS.