Madrid : A brand new cargo plane on a test flight crashed near an airport in Spain on Saturday, killing at least 10 crew members aboard, a media report said.
The Airbus A400M aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Seville airport in south Spain, The Guardian reported. All flights to Seville were diverted to Malaga and Jerez airports, the daily cited Spain’s airport authority, Aena, as saying.
“We express our deepest sympathy. They were fellow countrymen,” Mariano Rajoy Brey said in a statement.
TV footage showed a plume of black smoke rising into the sky from the crash site. Local media reported that the pilots had sent a distress call to the control tower just before the crash.
“We confirm that there has been an accident with an A400M in Seville. At this point we can confirm that the aircraft is MSN23, an aircraft foreseen for the Turkish customer,” Airbus said in a statement.
The European aircraft manufacturer added that a team of experts were on its way to Seville and “we will come back in due time with any confirmed information as soon as available”.
The A400M is a large, propeller-driven military transport aircraft which is designed as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities. Airbus describes it as “the most versatile airlifter currently available responding to the most varied needs of world air forces”.
