A400M crash has not affected production schedule in South Africa

5th June 2015

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

Font size: - +

The fatal accident which destroyed an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft on May 9 is not affecting production at the South African companies involved in the programme.

“I can confirm that the tragic accident has had no impact on the production schedules of the South African partner and supplier companies in the programme,” a spokesperson for Airbus Defence & Space told Engineering News.

Two South African companies are partners in the programme. They are private-sector enterprise Aerosud and State-owned business Denel Aerostructures (DAe). In addition, private-sector company Cobham South Africa is a supplier to the programme.

Aerosud is responsible for the design, engineering, manufacture and supply of the galley and the fuselage and cockpit linings of the A400M as well as the aircraft’s wingtips, which are of crucial aerodynamic importance. DAe is responsible for the design, engineering, manufacture and supply of the fuselage top shells, the wing/fuselage fairings (both large and very important components), the tail fin spar and ribs and the cargo floor mouts and locks. Cobham SA supplies the satellite communications antennas and associated equipment for the aircraft.

On May 9, A400M MSN23, which was destined for the Turkish Air Force, crashed near Seville’s San Pablo Airport, in Spain, while on its first production flight. The aircraft took off at 12:45 local time (the same as South African time). It has been reported that the crew reported a problem and sought to return to the airport but crashed before they could reach the runway. The aircraft came down about 1.6 km from the airport. Airbus stated that the crash happened at about 13:00 local time. The aircraft had a crew of six, four of whom were killed, one was critically injured and one seriously injured. MSN23 would have been the third A400M to be delivered to Turkey, with the formal handover scheduled for this month.

Subsequently, the Spanish authorities confirmed that both the aircraft’s black boxes (cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder) had been recovered. “Airbus Defence & Space technical advisers are providing full assistance to the official committee that is in charge of the investigation,” stated the company on May 13. “The investigating authority is the Spanish Ministry of Defence . . . Airbus and other suppliers are in a support role and will provide all the necessary expertise and information to help the investigation.”

As a precautionary measure, the Spanish defence authorities temporarily banned delivery preparation flights from Seville by production aircraft. However, test flights by development aircraft were not suspended. The UK, Germany and Turkey have temporarily grounded the A400Ms they have already received (two each in the case of Britain and Turkey, and one in the case of Germany; Malaysia has also received one). France, which has six A400Ms and is using them to support active operations in Africa, did not ground its aircraft.

On May 12, a development A400M carried out the type’s first test flight since the accident. This flight was from Toulouse, in France, to Seville and was a regular test flight, which had been scheduled before the accident. However, Airbus Defence & Space Military Aircraft head Fernando Alonso formed part of the crew for this flight, reverting to his original profession of flight test engineer to demonstrate his confidence in the aircraft.

On May 19, the company announced that it had sent an Alert Operator Transmission (AOT) to all A400M operators to tell them of checks that had to be carried out on their aircraft. These are to avoid “potential risk in any future flights”, stated Airbus Defence & Space in a press release. The AOT was the result of an internal analysis being carried out by the company, which is independent of the official crash investigation. The results of this analysis have been passed on to the official investigation team.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION