Airbus A380 wing snaps during test

Airbus A380 wing snaps during test
Friday, February 17, 2006

By FRANCOIS DE BEAUPUY
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Airbus said a wing of a 550-seat A380, the world's biggest commercial aircraft, snapped during a static test.

The incident will not delay the first deliveries due by the end of the year.

Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said the rupture between two engines took place when the wing was going through "the last step" of a test in which the wingtip is more than 24 feet away from its normal position when the aircraft is on the ground.

"We'll be able to demonstrate" that the plane meets requirements, "maybe with some refinements needed for certification in time for first delivery at the end of the year," Kracht said in a phone interview Thursday.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus has had some recent production delays. The company shut its A380 assembly line from May until August to configure jet wiring and electronics, delaying deliveries for six months.

The adjustments on the A380 last year prompted the company to put off deliveries to its first recipient, Singapore Airlines Ltd., and subsequent deliveries to Emirates and Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. until December 2006.

The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. owns 80 percent of Airbus.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/ ... bus17.html