Preliminary analyses show engines failure in Spain A400M crash
Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:
Three of the four engines of the A400M that crashed on May 9 in Seville, Spain, experienced a power freeze after take-off, Airbus Defence and Space said in a statement Wednesday, citing a preliminary analysis from Spain's military air crash investigation agency CITAAM.
According to Airbus Defence and Space, the DFDR (digital flight data recorder) and CVR (cockpit voice recorder) readouts have been successfully completed and that preliminary analysis has been conducted by CITAAM with representatives from Airbus Defense and Space providing technical advice.
CITAAM confirmed that engines one, two and three experienced a power freeze after lift-off and did not respond to the crew's attempts to control the power setting in the normal way, whilst engine four responded to throttle demands, the statement detailed.
"When the power levers were set to 'flight idle' in an attempt to reduce power, the power reduced but then remained at 'flight idle' on the three affected engines for the remainder of the flight despite attempts by the crew to regain power," said Airbus Defence and Space.
"Preliminary analyses have shown that all other aircraft systems performed normally and did not identify any other abnormalities throughout the flight," said Airbus, adding that the investigation continues.
The A400M aircraft, serial number MSN023, scheduled to be delivered to the Turkish Air Force, was on its first pre-delivery test flight when it crashed in Seville on May 9, killing four crew members. Endit