A400M

Airbus Defence and Space has sent an alert operator transmission (AOT) to all A400M operators, asking them to perform specific checks on the aircraft fleet.

The AOT asks operators to carry out one-time specific checks of the electronic control units (ECU) on the engine of their aircrafts.

In addition, the company alerted them to undertake additional detailed checks in the event of any subsequent engine or ECU replacement.

This warning comes after the data compiled by the company following the recent military plane crash.

The report hinted a possible issue in a system running the plane’s turboprop engines, Reuters reported.

Commenting on the alert, an Airbus spokeswoman was quoted by the news agency as saying: "It is a precautionary measure, which is part of our continued airworthiness activities."

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"It is a precautionary measure, which is part of our continued airworthiness activities."

However, no information has been collected from the ‘black box’ flight recorders so far.

An anonymous military expert was quoted as saying: "The cause of the crash will only be discovered if Airbus’s findings are being matched with the data from the flight data recorder."

Earlier this month, an Airbus A400M military transport plane crashed during testing near Seville, southern Spain, killing four people on board.

The aircraft, which was on its first flight, was due for delivery to the Turkish customer in June this year.

Following the incident, countries including Britain, Germany, Turkey, Malaysia and Spain grounded their A400M fleets as a precautionary measure.

Airbus delivered the first A400M plane in 2013 as part of a €20bn programme. The company received orders for 194 aircraft from eight countries across the world.


Image: Airbus’ first A400M military aircraft. Photo: courtesy of Benurs.