Judgment of Airbus crew questioned

Photo / Sarah Ivey

PARIS - Investigators probing the crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus last November that killed all seven on board are casting a critical eye over a decision to stage a slow-speed test at low altitude that, in just 96 seconds, led to the plane's death plunge.

"Ultimately, there are a lot of issues there in regard to why the pilots were doing what they were doing," said an expert involved in the inquiry.

"The altitude they were at is not a normal altitude to be doing any stalls at all."

The A320 airliner dived into the Mediterranean near the southwestern French city of Perpignan on November 28 (NZT) during what should have been a routine flight to test the twinjet after it had been handed back by a charter airline, XL Airways Germany, at the end of a lease contract.

Two Germans, who were in the pilot's and co-pilot's seats, a pilotand three engineers from Air New Zealand, and an official from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority were killed.

The expert cautioned that the inquiry was complex because the plane had crashed into the sea and it had been impossible to recover all the clues from wreckage scattered in thick mud at a depth of 40 metres.

He said the investigation was also looking into the possibility that a couple of sensors on the outside of the plane had been providing no data, which might have affected the "fly-by-wire" computerised flight system.