sandiego89, AD&S has committed to the maximum transparency of its accident inquiry.
Spain withdraws permit for Airbus A400M test flights
MADRID (AP) -- Spain has withdrawn its permission for test flights of Airbus A400M planes still in production until an investigation determines the cause of a crash last weekend near the southern city of Seville that killed two pilots and two flight test engineers, the defense minister said Tuesday.
Defense Minister Pedro Morenes said all precautions must be taken. "It's not a good idea for those planes in the production phase and about to do tests to fly without knowing what really happened with the (crashed) plane," he said on Onda Cero radio. Morenes said the permits were being temporarily removed by Spain's National Institute for Aerospace Technique, which means that planes in the final stages of assembly in Seville will not be able to carry out test flights.
An Airbus statement said it was too early to say how this would affect the delivery schedule for the planes. "We are working very closely with the military authorities as well as our customers to manage this situation," the statement said.........
The southern Andalusian justice department in Seville said the judge in charge of the crash probe, Ana Rosa Curra, had placed a secrecy order on investigations, meaning no details would be released officially for the time being.
Despite the problems, Airbus said it successfully conducted a test flight Tuesday of a similar model to the one that crashed. The plane flew from Toulouse, France and landed safely at Seville about two hours later, the company said. The Spanish withdrawal of flight permission only affects A400Ms that are destined for delivery to customers, not Tuesday's test flight, which is a plane that belongs to Airbus itself as one of its five test planes, according an Airbus official who was not authorized to speak publicly because of company protocol.........