Airbus crash/training flight
 

From French News channel LCI, an airbus 320 doing flight test with five people on board as ditched and is sinking near Perpignan. any more news on that?

Infos en direct et en vido, l'actualit en temps rel - tf1.fr

Link. In french

:uhoh:

Airbus crash/training flight
 

BBC five live as of now...Airbus crash (training flight) in sea.

Apparently landing went wrong.

A320
 

5 people onboard according official statements

Given the distance between the R/W @ PGF and the Med a bit worse than a landing gone wrong. Seems it was training ( I guess touch & go's for new guys ) Anyone's guess how an unstallable wunderbus could get dropped into the sea a few miles short of the R/W though. :confused:

Airline from unconfirmed sources is STARDUST

PGF
 

There were several Airbus A320 Family Aircraft on MX with EAS yesterday at PGF, could be one of those ? Non of them were Air France Airframes though.

Daft Wader

CNN: New Zealand A320, 5 to 7 onboard

A320 said to ditch off French coast during training flight

Seven people were on board an Airbus A320 aircraft, belonging to Air New Zealand, which has ditched off the coast of France during a training flight.

A spokeswoman for the French coast guard Gendarmerie Maritime says the precise location of the twin-jet is unclear, but that the organisation believes it to be between 1km and 5km from the coast near Perpignan.

She adds that the jet belonged to Air New Zealand and is lying 20-30m below the surface of the water.

The condition of the seven occupants is unknown, she says. The aircraft came down at about 17:00.

Airbus has so far been unable to provide any further details.

French news tv BFM-TV mentions a Neo-Z Airbus 320, with seven on board. Not a training flight, but a post-maintenance flight.

Photo from A.net:

Photos: Airbus A320-232 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Here at the Beeb we've spoken to an XL Germany spokesman who has given us the following:


The plane was being returned to an aircraft leasing company. It was being given a maintenance check at Perpignan airport.

The aircraft appears to have crashed into the sea off the south east French coast during test flights following the maintenance work.

XL Germany says there were two flight crew from XL Germany and 3-5 engineers on board

Hope this helps.

From wikipedia - Air New Zealand

Airbus A320-200
12 (1 Order)
152 (8/0/144)
Domestic, Select Tasman (except Perth) & Pacific
Operated by: Zeal320.
Currently undergoing cabin refit.
1 Aircraft currently with New Interior.
10 Aircraft are leased

Shame. Flew this a/c 3 months ago

One body recovered - French TV
 

Reuters wire
 

19:20 update
 

Recent info (19:20 UTC+1) from regional newpaper stating that one body was recoverd and transported to Perpignan hospital, 6 persons missing. Also indicated that debris is spread over hundreds of metres around impact point. Sad.

The 28th Nov is fast becoming a bad bad for NZ aviation. It is also the anniversary of Erebus accident.

Fingers crossed that we get some good news on survivors

French TF1 television news just reported a couple of minutes ago, two bodies found, on board were five NZ, two German. A Gendarme witness reported that the aircraft entered the water in a "virage engagée" - ie a steep, descending turn. Aircraft was on approach to LFMP/PGF. The local Prefect said that it was unlikely that there would be any survivors, though the search continues.

Judging by the location of the crash of St Cyprien, it was possibly on the 11 DME Arc from PPG, about the moment it started the turn to intercept the ILS for 33.

Tv in New Zealand just said 7 pob two of them senior Air New Zealand Pilots

Air NZ press release. 2 German pilots, 1 Air NZ pilot, 3 Air NZ engineers and 1 CAA NZ Inspector.

3 killed, according to France Presse
 

A320
 

Experts - what are the chances of recovering CVR/FDR in good condition?
Anyone with info on what the maintenance prior to the test flight was about?

PGF METARs as below (source ADDS):

Output produced by METARs form (1940 UTC 27 November 2008)
found at ADDS - METARs

LFMP 271800Z 28006KT 9999 -RA OVC033 06/04 Q1017 NOSIG
LFMP 271700Z 29006KT 9999 -RA OVC036 06/03 Q1017 NOSIG
LFMP 271600Z 30005KT 9999 FEW033 SCT043 BKN058 07/03 Q1018 NOSIG
LFMP 271500Z 28003KT 9999 -RA FEW033 BKN053 07/03 Q1018 NOSIG

LFMP 271700Z 2718/2818 32012KT 9999 FEW033 BKN060
TEMPO 2718/2803 8000 SHRA
BECMG 2807/2809 32015G25KT SCT040

Just being curious . . .
 

How did akerosid @ #15 know so much about the aircraft at such an early stage that he could post a link to an image of D-AXLA with, seemingly, a high level of confidence?

A little more info

Company Markets News - BusinessDay.co.nz

"How did akerosid @ #15 know so much about the aircraft at such an early stage that he could post a link to an image of D-AXLA with, seemingly, a high level of confidence? "


Was (is) being discussed extensively on A.net; aircraft identified as ANZ acft on lease to XL Germany. Photo available from A.net database.

Five New Zealanders feared dead after Air NZ plane crashes - 28 Nov 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news


Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe told a media conference this morning the aircraft had been leased by German charter company XL for the last two years.
He said two XL pilots were on board with one Air New Zealand captain, three Air New Zealand engineers and one Air New Zealand CAA inspector.

I initially thought this was a repeat of the Gulf Air A320 crash in Bahrain in 2000 but having read the report in the Avherald I now have my doubts.
Following is from the Avherald coverage of the loss.
"An Air New Zealand Airbus A320, registration ZK-OJL (D-AXLA), on a test flight with 7 people (2 Germans, 5 New Zealanders) on board crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast near Perpignan (France) at 16:46 local (15:45Z), approximately 7km (3.8nm) before Saint-Cyprien.

The airplane had taken off Perpignan's runway 15 for a test flight at around 16:30 local (15:30Z), when it disappeared from radar. Coast Guard patrol boats as well as a helicopter by the Navy found floating parts, the airplane itself is reported sunken. Two bodies were recovered, five occupants are still missing.

XL Airways Germany said, they don't know exactly what happened. Their aircraft D-AXLA was to be transferred to Air New Zealand. The airplane came out of the maintenance and was to be verified. Originally XL Airways received the information, that the airplane had successfully ditched until the news of the crash arrived. Two German employees of XL Airways were on board as well as 5 New Zealanders. The airplane was already back in Air New Zealand colors with the original Air New Zealand interior restored. The airplane should have returned to New Zealand in December. "

At the time of the accident it would have been dark. Loss of sit. awareness over water at night? possibly similar to the Gulfair or Flash accident.
very sad news indeed, condolences to all familiy members

Tragically for the airline, today was also the 29th anniversary of the DC-10 Mount Erebus accident in Antarctica. :sad:


Air New Zealand Flight 901 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From french TV, the aircraft had just undergone a check "C" and was test flighted before its return to Air NZ. The check fligh was complete, and the Aircraft was returning to Perpignan to land.

15:30Z definitely not dark. Sunset 16:17Z today...

Was raining but nothing exceptional.

From TV footage clearly a high speed impact, not a botched ditching.

Weather
 

To answer someone's query, I'm just down the coast from the approach path to Perpignan/LFMP, and the weather is pretty bad, full overcast, rain etc. and this side of the Cap de Creus a 6-7 Tramontana blowing. Catalan news (TV-3) says aircraft hit sea hard, much wreckage, and three bodies recovered so far. 150 people currently involved in search for survivors etc.

R

Un A320 s'abîme en mer près de Perpignan : plusieurs victimes, actualité Société : Le Point

.....Le 27 novembre 2008, à 16 h 46, heure locale, un Airbus A 320, immatriculé D-AXLA (Allemagne),......

Two killed (rectification France Presse)
 

Very sad about this...it's difficult for the moment to have reliable information, but from the french TV France 2 and for what it's worth, the plane was only undergoing a a painting job at Perpignan (putting I suppose the Air New Zealand colours on it) and not an overhaul visit...They say that it was taking off for a ferry flight back to New Zealand...The only reliable source would be the controllers at the tower, I shall try to get information...

To add to atakacs remark... I don't live all that far from Perpignan, so I can confirm lighting at 15:45Z, 16:45 local, would not yet have been an issue, even below an overcast.

CJ

From New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz


Five Kiwis dead in Air New Zealand crash
9.50AM By MICHAEL FIELD - Stuff.co.nz | Friday, 28 November 2008


AFP
RECOVERY: Rescuers recover the body of the one crew member recovered from the sea.

LATEST: Seven people - including five New Zealanders - were onboard the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 which crashed off the coast of France this morning, reportedly leaving no survivors.

It is understood three bodies have been recovered. Radio New Zealand is quoting the French Coastguard as saying there are no survivors.
An Air New Zealand captain and three engineers, as well as a New Zealand CAA inspector, were onboard the Airbus.
At a press conference this morning, Air NZ chief executive Rob Fyfe said he did know the status of the New Zealanders but the company, and CAA, were liaising closely with the families of those onboard.
"We have grave concerns for the situation."
The captain on the plane was described as a very experienced pilot.
Mr Fyfe said the aircraft had been leased to German company XL Airways for the past two years and had undergone maintenance in anticipation of a return to New Zealand at the end of this week.
The plane took off on a technical flight from Perpignan, France, this morning (NZ time) destined for Frankfurt in Germany. It was flown by two XL Airways pilots.
After a brief touchdown it crashed into the Mediterranean.
Searchers have located much of the wreckage, which is spread over a 300m area in rough seas.
Divers hope to be able to locate the plane's black box, in up to 45 metres of water tomorrow.
The crash happened on the anniversary of the Air New Zealand DC 10 crash into Mount Erebus on November 28, 1979, in which 257 people died.
“It adds a dimension to the tragedy. This is a very poignant day for Air New Zealand… to have this aircraft operated by XL Airways, to have this incident occur on the same day just adds to the tragedy.”
An Airbus statement this morning confirming the crash said the aircraft had accumulated 7000 flight hours during 2800 flight cycles.
The statement said Airbus would be providing technical assistance to crash investigators and a team of five specialists had been sent to the site.
The A320 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft, capable of seating 150 passengers.
Airbus said its concerns and sympathies went to the families, friends and loved ones of those affected by the accident.
The manufacturer was dispatching five specialists to the site to help French authorities determine the cause of the crash.
"The investigation remains the entire responsibility of the relevant authorities and it would be inappropriate for Airbus to enter into any form of speculation into the cause of the accident," the company said in a statement.
Five launches, two helicopters and a patrol airplane have been dispatched to the area of the crash, said First Officer Sandrine Parro of the Regional Operational Centre for Monitoring and Rescue (CROSS) for the Mediterranean.
A maritime affairs officer, Nicolas Renaud, said they were alerted by a pleasure boat skipper who saw the plane go down. "The plane appears to be in several pieces," he told BFM television.
A French minesweeper boat with bomb disposal expert divers was due to arrive at the site on Friday morning to search for the aircraft's black box recorders, said Bernard Celier, spokesman for the maritime prefecture for the Mediterranean.
The sea was choppy on Thursday evening, with southwesterly winds of around 30 knots (around 35 miles) per hour, he added.

The French daily Le Figaro says the plane was on a one hour 30 minute test flight and was approaching the airport when it went down.
The spokesman for XL said the plane tried to make an emergency landing on the sea.
The Mayor of Perpignon says wreckage has been recovered from many hundreds of metres around the crash site.
They mobilised five rescue boats, two boats from the marine division of the Gendarmerie, an aircraft and a civil helicopter. A naval mine sweeper has also been sent to the site to search and recover the black box
The office responsible for enquiring into this type of accident has mobilised a team consisting of five French and two German investigators. They will be joining a team from the Dept of Civ Av (DGAC) and airbus specialists.
Le Figaro say these types of accidents are very rare when an aircraft is going thru maintenance.
The most recent was an Airbus A340 which smash a parapet at Toulouse Airport during an engine test on the ground. Three people were seriously injured.