The Airbus A400M military transport plane that crashed during testing on 9 May in Spain suffered a triple engine failure, Airbus has confirmed.

The preliminary analysis conducted by CITAAM has revealed that the engines 1, 2 and 3 experienced power freeze after lift-off and did not respond to the crew’s attempts to control the power setting.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

This engine failure is connected to suspected software problems. The investigation will now focus on software installation errors.

CITAAM, along with representatives from Airbus Defence and Space, completed the analysis of the digital flight data recorder (DFDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) readouts.

"The investigation will now focus on software installation errors."

A statement from Airbus stated that the preliminary analyses have revealed that all other aircraft systems performed normally and did not identify any other abnormalities throughout the flight.

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

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

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

The Airbus A400M military transport plane crashed during testing near Seville in 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.

Airforce Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Airforce Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.


Excellence in Action
Discover how Virtualitics is transforming mission readiness with explainable AI, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision intelligence across the U.S. Department of Defense through its AI-powered Integrated Readiness Optimization suite, for which it has won the Innovation and Business Expansion awards.

Discover the Impact