Airbus A400M crash linked to ‘assembly’ problem

  • Associated Press
  • Friday, May 29, 2015 2:32pm
  • Business

PARIS — Airbus said it’s too early to tell the causes of a deadly crash of an A400M military plane, after one of its top executives reportedly said flight recorder data pointed to a problem in final assembly.

German newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday quoted Airbus strategy chief Marwan Lahoud as saying that there were no structural defects in the plane “but we have a serious problem in the final assembly.” He cited information from the plane’s black box recorders.

The cause of the May 9 crash that killed two pilots and two flight test engineers near Seville, Spain, remains under investigation.

An Airbus Defence and Space spokeswoman said that she could not confirm Lahoud’s comments, adding: “We will need the full results of the investigation in order to have the full picture.”

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